Old Toothie Faces
by OneHorseShay
Summary: The Winchester Brothers attempted to close the gates of Hell once and for all, but gave up the quest for family. What if one wanted to close them for family with the backing of an old enemy with his own agenda? What if it took Heaven and Hell to stop them? Takes place between the episodes of 'Paint it Black' and 'Inside Man'.
1. Prologue

I have a new story for my readers (don't worry, I have most of this actually done before posting anything and not putting back my other stories) and hopefully new readers.

Also during the course of the story, it may look like I'm taking liberties with the established rules of the universe in the show, but I think I'm actually being more consistent, so I hope you don't worry about shouting, 'That doesn't make sense with the show!'

Happy reading.

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Old Toothy Faces  
By OneHorseShay  
Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue. For Chuck sakes, don't sue.  
Rating: T Language, Violence and possible Adult Content/Situation  
Summary: The Winchester Brothers attempted to close the gates of Hell once and for all, but gave up the quest for family. What if one wanted to close them _for_ family with the backing of an old enemy with his own agenda? What if it took Heaven and Hell to stop them? Takes place between the episodes of 'Paint it Black' and 'Inside Man'.

Prologue

The time was approaching midnight on the practically abandoned dirt crossroad that was on the very outskirts of Los Angeles County with a clear sky overhead where one could actually see a number of stars. The place was all but abandoned save for one individual, a lanky young man in his early twenties with short black curly hair and glasses who at the moment was kneeling in the center of the intersection. It was a chiller night than he expected, but he ignored it as he dug up some dirt then placed the metal tin into the ground and covered it back up.

He stood up then spoke very slowly and carefully the incantation he had practiced for several hours phonetically, "Daemon, esto subjecto voluntati meae."

The nervous young man waited, not expecting anything to really happen, but desperation and one too many late nights surfing the internet (after having one too many drinks) brought him to the point of trying anything.

A soft, sweet voice called out behind him, "Hello."

He turned around and caught his breath at seeing to his eyes a very attractive girl that was around his age. She was quite beautiful and hot (and bared a striking resemblance to a 'friend' from back in high school), but her eyes as black as night without any hint of iris or white was a jarring sight. However, that didn't prevent him from taking a few moments to assess the beauty standing in front of him.

She was a slim and fairly tall at about five-seven, yet curved in all the right places, twenty-one years old young woman wearing a black scooped necked buttoned tank-top with the top button undone to show off a little more of her cleavage of her well endowed natural assets, a waist length black leather jacket, hip hugging dark blue jeans and black laced boots. She had a lovely symmetrical face with pink supple lips, fair nearly pale skin, dark brown and slightly curled long hair that reached just past her shoulder blades and to her cleavage.

The young woman smiled at his reaction, something that she was used to getting, be they male or female with her usual picks of 'meatsuits'. She always picked a body for beauty over brawn and always took care of it instead of riding it hard to the point of burnout as many other demons tended to do towards their inhabited bodies; there were plenty of other demons (the less intelligent ones) to possess people such as bodybuilders, street thugs or top notch physically fit cops and soldiers for the muscle when necessary. She had made the right choice in possessing the Irish and Italian descended girl from the Northeast and about to use it to her advantage.

The dark brunette blinked and her eyes returned to normal to show the whites of her eyes and lovely crisp blue pupils. She put on a sweet, alluring smile and waited for him to speak.

The nervous, glasses wearing young man uttered, "Ah… hi, you're real… you're a…"

She patently smiled and answered in a sweet tone, "Demon. Yes, Robert, I'm quite real and you called because you wanted something."

His mouth dropped open for a moment, still trying to comprehend that it actually worked and didn't give it a thought that she somehow knew his name.

The lovely appearing demon patiently questioned as politeness and charm were her greatest weapon as opposed to a number of other demons that relayed on brute strength, "So, you want to make a deal?"

The question rocked the young jarred the nervous twenty-something year old out of his stupor and nervously chuckled, "Yes, I want something."

"Are you aware of the price for any deal you and I strike?"

He licked his lips and answered in baited breath, "Yes… you grant me my wish and in return, you get my soul in the future."

"Yes, your soul is the price. You get ten years then I get your soul. Are you comfortable with that?"

Robert licked his lips and took a deep breath. He had thought about the trade in a pretty abstract concept over the last week as he really didn't expect this to work, but here she stood in front of him with the power to grant his wish. He weighed the options, his soul for his desire. He thought he wasn't really using his soul and figured his life wasn't worth much without his wish.

"Yes, I am."

"Okay, what is it you want?"

He hesitated and partially flapped his lips before he uttered, "I want this girl… a girl I've known for years to return my feelings. She kind of does though, but things never seemed to work out for us and now someone else is in her life. I want a way to impress her enough or make her realize that I'm the guy for her. I don't know exactly how to make that happen, so I was hoping the wish would take care of the details."

She raised an eyebrow and sympathetically questioned, "So she's with another guy and you can't compete?"

"Another girl actually…"

The demon whistled then grinned while glancing away for a moment. She resisted the urge to make some smartass comment that he had to be pretty bad to drive her to the arms of another girl. Alienating the pathetic loser wouldn't serve her purpose of getting his soul. She casually remarked, "That's a big one isn't it?"

"Yeah. I don't know what else to do, but this."

She took a step towards to him, invading his personal space and running her fingers across his lean chest to his stomach. "It shouldn't be problem. We'll have to workout the details of exactly what I would provide, but in the end, you should get your girl."

"That would be a very bad deal," a voice called out several yards behind Robert.

The curly haired twenty-something turned around towards the voice and saw another young man about the same age as Robert and girl the demon was inhibiting leaning against the fender of blue Prius with his arms crossed over his muscular chest. He had a rugged face with a strong chin with a five o'clock shadow of a beard and mustache, brown eyes and short brown hair that was fairly messy. He stood at about five-eight with a well-built yet lean frame from what could be estimated under the guy's waist length bomber style black leather jacket, more like Bruce Lee than Schwarzenegger.

The stranger pushed off the car and uncrossed his arms. He wore a friendly smile and continued, "You shouldn't sell your soul to her for your sweetheart."

Robert cautiously eyed the newcomer and muttered, "And who are you?"

The stranger smiled and shrugged before casually answering, "Oh, I'm just someone who's trying to look out for you and rooting that you will get with her so you can both be happy, but this isn't the way to do it."

Robert uttered in a confused and somewhat annoyed voice, "How do you know that? Are you stalking me? Who are you?"

The young man patiently smiled yet answered in an absolute voice, "My name is Nathaniel and I am an Angel of the Lord."

Robert brow wrinkled behind the frame of his glasses and mouth partially dropped open. He was raised Jewish, but was never deeply devout and took the concept of angels and demons with only a passing thought. Now he was not only speaking with a demon to trade for his soul, but apparently facing an angel.

He looked over his shoulder for perhaps confirmation and saw the expression on the demon's face, the fear in her eyes that she couldn't manage to totally suppress. His breath shortened at the unspoken confirmation and glanced back to the handsome stranger. He stuttered, "You're… you're an angel?"

"Yes."

"Why… why are you here?"

"For you."

Robert's eyes opened wide. "Me? Why are you interested in me?"

"I have my reasons, but we have the same goal: you being with your cute little redhead. However… for that to happen, I'm here to try to stop you from doing something very, very foolish."

The mortal replied with a false sense of bravado, "It's not foolish. It's a well thought out and even trade."

The handsome stranger slowly walked to the pair and kept his focus on the slim young man and continued, "Even trade? Eternal damnation for ten years with her? What about her say in the matter? You don't get to make those decisions for her. Here's a thought: try to win her over. Let her know how you really feel and prove to her you are the guy that is best for her… and give her a shot to prove to you that she's good enough for you…"

He motioned to the demon with a nod of his head as he spoke, "…and don't rely on her to do it. What are you going to gain if you go through with it? Will it really be her or some facsimile? Ten years of uncertain allusion with perhaps a few children with her then be dragged to Hell be tormented and you just might eventually become like her. Do you want to be her?"

The lovely dark haired young woman felt a wave of rage ripple through her from the insult. She found some courage and warned, "You should butt out. He's free to make his own choice. Isn't that what you angels are into now? Freewill?"

The more muscular young man turned his attention to the demon and matched her gaze. He answered in a slow and deliberate voice, "Make me."

The demon took a step back, unwilling to challenge him.

Robert swallowed down his fear at seeing the demon being so easily intimidated by the stranger. He looked back to Nathaniel and pleaded, "I've tried all that and she'll just never commit. She's been that way since high school. I need help if things are actually going to change."

Nathaniel tilted his head just a little to his right and smiled as he remarked, "Have a little faith."

As if on cue, Robert's phone rang inside his jacket pocket. He knotted his brow, recalling that he didn't have much cell coverage this far out.

Nathaniel motioned with his left hand towards the phone with a confident smile. "You should answer that."

The curly haired fellow reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his smartphone. He spotted the caller ID and a smile formed on his face. He answered it and brought the phone to his ear. "Hey."

He nodded along to whatever was said on the other end while his confusion slowly turned into a grin. After several more seconds, he answered, "Yeah it's late, but I'll be right over." He ended the call and looked up to the angel and demon with a grin big enough to nearly break his face.

Robert's smile faded as he realized that he was standing in front of a demon and angel. He looked to the attractive demon and fearfully stuttered, "I'm ah… I'm sorry… sorry for wasting your time, but…"

The demon clenched her jaw so tightly that it threatened to crack the teeth of the girl she was possessing. She was seething at losing the easy deal, but she remembered one of the most important rules that her king had laid down: Hell has integrity. It was a pragmatic rather than autistic approach as if they didn't have it, no one would be willing to do business with them which sometimes included losing a potential soul. She put on a shit-eating grin and answered in a reassuring manner, "It's alright. It's just business. You win some, you lose some. If you're ever in need of my services in the future…"

Robert politely nodded, grateful that the creature from the depths of Hell didn't want to do any number of horrible things to him for backing out, then quickly knelt to dig up the tin can then ran to his car. He flung himself into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition then floored it. The car sped past the pair still standing in the road, kicking up dirt and a little gravel.

The lovely looking demon turned a harsh glare to him and balled her fist, but underneath the rage filled expression there was still the linger of fear in being in the presence of an angel. However, whatever fears she had been suppressed with audacity as she snapped, "What business do you have interfering? He came here of his own freewill. I wasn't forcing him to do anything."

"No you weren't and neither was I. I just pointed out the alternative and… perhaps solving his problem without costing him a soul."

"Why? Why would an angel give a damn about some loser who can't close the deal with his girl?"

Nathaniel cocked an eyebrow and retorted with his own question, "Doesn't Hell get enough of them already?"

The attractive body wearing demon intensified an impotent glare towards him.

The angel eyed the abomination with mild contempt, but decided to humor her as he didn't see much need to toy with her. "Fine, if you want to know, he belonged to me first."

She crossed her arms under her chest and demanded, "Yours? How was he yours?"

"I'm to make sure he gets with his girl… at least long enough for him to have children with her. Hopefully they'll last, but… there are no guarantees in life."

She squinted and slightly nodded her head to the side. "You want him to have children with her? Why?"

"It's my job."

The demon crossed her arms under her chest and questioned, "Your job… Your job to make sure he has children…" She studied him for a few moments, ignoring for the moment that he was wearing an attractive body in her eyes, before it dawned on her what he meant. The explanation caused her to snort out a laugh, "You're a cupid?"

The cherub slightly tilted his head to the side and gave her a curious expression, unsure why she thought his class of angel was something humorous.

The demon started outright laughing, a deep hearty laugh that nearly brought her to tears. She wrapped her arm over her stomach and muttered between laughs, "Shouldn't you be in a diaper and holding a bow and arrow with a heart as an arrowhead?"

The fair skinned demon stopped laughing when his hand was around her throat and he easily lifted her off her feet, which stated dangling about two feet off the ground and bumping him just above the knees. She desperately clawed at his left hand to get him to release her, but it as a vein effort as he was _considerably_ stronger than her. She looked down to see his eyes glowing blue and heard a soft hum then noticed that his right palm was glowing yellow.

He whispered above the sound of the hum he was emanating, "Yes, I am a cupid and one with very little patience with… 'people' such as yourself willing to destroy people so you can hit some quota for the month. Perhaps I should put you out of your misery and keep some other unfortunate soul from being caught in your web?"

Fear gripped the demon's metaphorical heart as she could see her existence about to end.

However, another voice yelled out to the angel's right, "Mandy!"

The cupid glanced to the direction of the voice and recognized in an instant that a light skinned muscular tall young man that had appeared out of nowhere concerned about the possessed girl was a demon. Nathaniel raised his right hand and the demon was hit with a wave of the angel's will instead of being destroyed and was thrown off his feet and sent flying backwards more than half a dozen yards. He landed hard and skidded to a stop, partially curling into a ball.

Nathaniel looked back up at the abomination and for a moment, saw past the twisted and mutilated remains of a human soul and saw the pain and not from his grip around her neck and fear, genuine fear. He released his grip from around her neck and she unceremoniously dropped to the ground, her knees crumbling and partially rolling to her right side. She didn't need to breathe, but she naturally rubbed her throat as she pulled herself into a seated position.

The cupid looked down at her with an expression of disgust and muttered, "They are off-limits or I will lay you to waste."

Mandy did the only sensible thing: she remained silent and nodded her head in understanding of his warning.

The next moment he was gone with a fluttering sound.

Mandy stood up, quite shaken from the experience, and brushed herself off. She looked to her fellow demon that approached her holding his right side and wearing a grimace. She smacked his right arm and spat in disgust, "Some help you were."

He looked apologetically to her, but sarcastically snapped, "What was I going to do against an angel? You just saw how he tossed me away."

The dark brunette shook her head, tossing a little of her dark locks and impatiently asked, "Fine, why are you here? Don't you have your own soul to process?"

The muscular demon unnecessarily cleared his throat and answered with a lace of fear, "We have a problem."

Unknown Location  
Earth

Mandy cautiously and practically dragged her feet while walking down the hall towards the throne room of the King of Hell's earthly headquarters after Brandon broke his news. Her throat or more accurately her 'meatsuit's' throat felt constricted along with the increase in pulse and dry mouth. She enjoyed the physical sensations of being in a body, especially the sensual aspects, but the stressful feeling threatening to overwhelm her wouldn't do her any good in the next few minutes if she expected to get out of the meeting alive.

She hated to be the barer of bad news at anytime, but today the king was not in a good mood and he just might take his frustrations out on her—kill the messenger and all… The rumors had it that he just had another encounter with the Winchesters and it had not gone well and that in turn he was fighting with his recently reunited mother, a powerful witch in her own right.

As she reached the last few yards to the guarded double doors, she passed a number of her fellow demons wandering about the complex going about their business and receiving several gazes.

She stopped in front of the double doors and suppressing the feeling to flinch at the sight of seeing one half a person nailed on each door, a warning to any other demon not to waste the king's time with trivial matters.

The guards pushed opened the blood soaked double doors for her to step inside. She flicked her eyes back and forth between the guards before cautiously stepping inside and towards the throne.

Crowley, former King of the Crossroads now King of Hell, sat on his throne, leaning to his left and bracing his elbow on the armrest and resting his cheek on a closed fist while paying attention to his phone. There were two rows of seats for his closest advisors that at the moment only had a few seated. In the seat closest to his left sat a redhead Scottish witch that turned out to be the king's mother. Mandy wasn't sure who was scarier: the king or his mother.

The king looked with a bored expression at Mandy as she stopped just a few yards in front of the throne with a bowed head while his mother focused on her embroidering. The redheaded witch maintained her attention on her embroidering as she sweetly greeted the lowly demon, but with a hint of irritation in her voice, "Sweetie, I hope you're not here to waste your king's time."

Mandy respectfully nodded to the witch and answered in a deferring manner, "No ma'am."

Crowley pulled his attention away from his phone, but ignored the fact that his mother had taken the lead in addressing what was clearly the business of Hell, perhaps emboldened by her suggestion made more than a week ago, and slowly drawled, "Then what is it?"

Mandy kept her head bowed, avoiding eye contact with him, and licked her lips before answering, "I'm sorry to bother you my king, but I beg to report that someone has killed one of your hellhounds—not Juliet—but one nevertheless and the person he was sent to retrieve has disappeared."

Crowley dropped his hand from his cheek and sat up straight on his throne. He asked rhetorically with a hint of annoyance lacing his words, "Someone killed one of my pets? Why was one of my hounds sent to retrieve a soul?"

She darted her eyes to look at the floor and muttered, "It was one of your personal deals before you became king my lord. Since Guthrie's… passing, we've—"

Rowena slightly squinted and hissed in an accusing tone, "You mean that traitor to your king?"

Crowley passed his mother a suspicious glance, observing her vitriol response.

Mandy kept her head bowed and answered, "I know nothing about that ma'am." She turned her head back to Crowley and continued, "All I know that after his death, it fell on us to take up some of his responsibilities as no one has been chosen to replace him."

"Us?"

"Just a number of us that answered to him as our direct supervisor when he was still personally making deals before becoming one of your advisers. Once he started his service with you my king, some of us took on… administrative assistant roles to assist him."

A wicked smile formed on Rowena's face as if she was a cat about to play with a mouse she just caught and accused, "Oh, so he was _your_ patron? Perhaps you were aware of the plot against the king?"

"I don't know of any plot against the king if such a thing happened."

Rowena stood up and questioned with a voice filled with outrage, "If? If? Are you calling me a liar?"

Mandy wisely kept her head down, but replied with a bit of steel in her voice, "No ma'am. I'm just saying that I am still having a hard time reconciling the person I knew with the idea that he would do such a thing towards our king."

The Scottish witch raised a finger as if she could strike the demon down with the gesture and since she had created a spell that could kill demons, that perhaps it was possible.

Crowley raised a few fingertips and quietly spoke, "Enough mother."

The King's mother turned her head to look at her son and held her tongue. She lowered her hand and retook her seat, but kept a withering look on the 'young woman'.

The former King of the Crossroads turned his attention back to the submissive demon and answered, "So one of my hounds is dead, what do you plan to do about it?"

Mandy dared to lift her head enough to barely meet his eyes and fearfully asked, "Sir?"

Crowley wore his smug expression and casually answered, "You're the one that has come to me with the news and assumed some of Guthrie's responsibilities, so tell me what you are going to do about it?"

The demon in the attractive girl lifted her head and flustered for the moment before she swallowed and gathered her confidence to answer, "I'll find the one that killed your hound and bring them to you and retrieve the soul that rightfully belongs to you."

Crowley slightly bowed his head to the side and answered as if he was praising a small child, "Good. I'm glad I didn't have to explain the obvious to you." He turned his attention back to his phone, expecting her to scurry away, but she remained in her spot.

Mandy answered, "If I may my lord, I do have one question."

He looked from his phone and looked to her with a hint of impatience that she hadn't already left. He put in a little of such impatience in his voice, "Yes?"

"Do you wish for me to punish them or bring them back alive for you to personally administer justice?"

Crowley grinned at the intelligent question, a pleasant surprise. "Ah, aren't you the considerate one? Bring them back to me alive so I can personally show the person the error of his or her ways."

She bowed her head again and nodded. "Yes my king." She looked to the witch and respectfully bowed to her, not gaining her a bit of consideration from the mortal, before quickly turning and headed out of the room.

Once the doors closed, Rowena looked to her son with barely restrained contempt. "You don't seriously believe that child can do such a thing, especially one that worked directly under Guthrie? She could have been complacent on his treachery and regardless of how untrustworthy she must be, one of your personal hounds has been killed while trying to retrieve a soul that belongs to you? Shouldn't you at least send someone more reliable?"

Crowley lazily replied with an eye roll, "Mother, as much as I love my hounds, I have more pressing matters and may need the talents of my reliable and proven talented subjects. You were the one going on about how important my time was. If she succeeds, good for her and I'll get someone that actually has a future. If she fails, it's no loss and I'll just find them myself when I have the time. I have all the time to make them suffer."

"And do those pressing matters include the Winchesters?"

Crowley lazily looked back to his phone and continued on his game.

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Author's Note: I hope these chapter teased you enough to stay tuned. Don't worry, we'll see our favorite brothers and overcoat wearing angel (I miss the old coat) in the coming chapters, but I need to set the scene before they arrive.


	2. Chapter 1

Thank you for taking a look at my opening chapter and hope that I've hooked you to continue reading.

Rating: T, Violence

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Chapter 1

Somewhere in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA  
~1:00 AM, Saturday, March 28, 2015

A young woman barely old enough to legally drink in the States stared into the bathroom mirror of the small ranch house that she was currently 'borrowing'. She was a lovely woman of mix Caucasian/Hispanic heritage with lightly tanned skin and long dirty blonde hair which leaned heavily on the dark side and for the moment was put up in a messy bun on the back of her crown. She wore a light blue, nearly white silk bathrobe over her slim body as she was examining her eyes to see if there were any physical changes she spot see after nerve-wracking experience just few hours ago. She glanced away from the mirror, satisfied that her eyes hadn't turned color or some monstrous growth had started on her face. She looked down at her right forearm and ran her fingertips across her smooth and tanned skin. She opened her fist then clinched it, feeling a dull ache in her arm.

A concerned voice called out behind her at the entrance way of the bathroom, "Jessica? Are you alright?"

The dirty blonde turned away from the mirror and looked to the handsome eighteen year old standing at the doorway. He was taller than her by nearly half a foot with long hair with a mustache and trimmed chin hair. His current appearance wouldn't give him much trouble in dressing up as Jack Sparrow for the next Halloween. She pulled the sleeve down of her silk robe and glanced to the floor. She idly pulled the top of the robe to make sure it was closed then absently tightened the silk belt. She muttered, "I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow and reassured her, "Are you sure? You don't have to be. What happened was pretty… terrifying and we don't know how the ritual affected you. You did collapse after you read the incantation."

Jessica looked up from the floor and reassured him with a sweet smile, "I'm fine Danny, but I could use a long good night's sleep though."

Danny brightened with a charming smile that on more than one occasion caught the attention of the girls at his former high school at hearing the sensible news.

"Absolutely." He thumbed over his shoulder and continued, "Your bed waits."

She thankfully smiled to the handsome teenager and answered, "Thank you, but… as much as I want that night's sleep, we're on the clock and I don't have time to rest." She walked past him out of the bathroom and headed down the hall as she continued, "Killing their Hellhound would certainly grab someone's attention and they are bound to start looking for us."

Danny eagerly countered, "Yeah, but they don't know it was us that killed it. They would just assume that Ross would have somehow pulled it off."

She stopped at the entrance of another bedroom and looked to her companion. "And when they find him, you don't think he'll give us up in a heartbeat?"

The teenager paused, apparently not considering the possibility, but quickly attempted to reassure her, "Maybe, but we're safe for tonight. We have this place warded enough where they can't find us."

"All wards can be broken. It's just a matter of time and will and killing one of their hounds is pretty good motivation."

Danny sighed, not liking her point, but really couldn't argue against it.

Jessica stepped inside the bedroom, cleared of everything except for a black painted altar with a number of different items meticulously set on it: a Coptic cross, some bones, blood, a crucifix, some gold ore, a bit of hemlock, mace and several unidentified ingredients. In the center of the room was a large mat with a perfect circle was printed on it with a large sigil inside the circle.

The young woman walked to the altar and knelt in front of it. She looked to a piece of paper that looked like a cheat sheet then looked over her shoulder and asked, "Are you ready?"

"No, but do it anyway."

Danny reached inside the left flap of his black jacket and pulled out a foot long tapered silver blade.

Jessica turned back to the altar and took a few of the items to place in a silver bowl. After mixing some of the pieces, she began to speak a few words of Latin, "O theris tes, caleo se cai deo."

The overhead light in the bedroom dimmed then restored to full brightness then dimmed again. This happened several more times before a young woman of similar age to Jessica with dark redhead and fair complexion a hint of sun kissed skin, barely standing five feet, wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans and a crimson scoop-neck shirt, just appeared in the center of the trap.

The summoned being looked about the room, panicked with her sudden appearance in the unknown place.

Jessica looked at the surprised at the appearance of the trapped spirit. She stood up and cautiously greeted her, "Hello, ah… you're okay."

The redhead turned and glared at the hellhound killer, turning to outrage as a refuge from the fear. She may have been small and probably just over a hundred ten pounds wet, but she wore a fierce expression and Jessica understood the true power of the being in front of her. The redhead hissed with a penetrating glare, "Let me out."

Jessica swallowed down her fear and answered in a timid voice, "I'm sorry, but I can't."

The reaper sneered, "You can't?"

Danny spoke up and made the blade in his hand clear for her to see, "No, we can't."

The dark redhead took a hitched breath, a visible flinch at the weapon in his hand as she recognized it as blade of an angel.

Jessica raised a hand towards Danny and to the trapped reaper, "We're not going to hurt. We just need your help, but I can't risk you saying no to me."

The petite girl looked to the young woman and sensed that she was telling the truth even through the trap.

Jessica turned away from the bound reaper and walked to the black altar to kneel in front of it.

The petite reaper questioned, her voice still filled with outrage with laced with a hint of fear, "What are you doing?"

Jessica ignored her for the moment and opened a worn leather-bound journal. She looked over the page, skimming over the word then picking up a small Coptic cross resting on the altar. She took a second silver bowl and started mixing some of the other ingredients until it looked like a sickening mess that caused a puff of smoke to rise from the bowl. She put it around her neck then started reading another incantation.

As the kneeling woman spoke the words, the reaper clenched her jaw as she felt an unknown sensation ripple through her vessel's body and into her spirit. It passed just as quickly as it came on.

Jessica stood up to face the reaper and cautiously asked, wrapping her fingers around the cross hanging from her neck. "You're bound to me, right?"

The reaper clenched her jaw, fighting the sensation to comply, but after several seconds she answered, "Yes."

The dirty blonde nodded her head, still fearful of what she was doing with a hint of the deep regret. "Okay. I promise you as soon as we're done that I will release you."

The redheaded reaper didn't believe a word falling from the girl's lips, but she could see the fear in her eyes. She slowly asked, "And what is that?"

"I need you to smuggle me into Hell and back out."

The young looking reaper's barely contained fury was replaced with an expression of deep confusion.

Greystar Apartments  
1901 Callowhill St

Philadelphia, PA

A light brunette woman in her mid-thirties was sleeping comfortably in bed as the digital clock on her nightstand displayed in green that that the time was just after four o'clock in the morning. However, that peace would be interrupted with a ding of her doorbell.

She initially stirred from her slumber, trying to ignore the doorbell, but the repeated dings caused her to roll in bed and look at her clock. She pouted in frustration at seeing the time and finally roused herself from bed and started her way out of her bedroom to bite off the head of whoever decided to wake her up.

She blew out an irritated breath at her sleep being interrupted over what was probably someone tapping the doorbell of the wrong apartment. She turned on a lamp in her living room then stopped in front of her door. She didn't bother checking the peephole, but called out from the other side in a groggy voice, "Whoever it is, you have the wrong apartme—"

She didn't get to finish her statement as the door flung opened as if the locks weren't even there, smacking her in the face and breaking her nose in an instant. She flung backwards and landed hard on the floor, causing her to draw up her arms and legs to her body.

Mandy and Brandon casually stepped inside and the dark haired demon looked down at the secretary that was struggling to pull herself into a seated position while covering her bloody nose.

The blonde looked up to Mandy's crisp blue eyes and mumbled while blood ran over her lips and onto her chin, "Who are you?"

Brandon glanced around the apartment, particularly unimpressed with it, and looked to see if anyone was about to interrupt them.

Mandy closed the door behind them and glanced down at her and answered, "Oh, I'm just someone that is looking for your boss, Christopher Ross, and figured you would know where he would go in skipping town."

"Skip town? What are you talking about?"

The dark brunette demon took a deep, unnecessary breath. "I don't have the time and frankly not in the mood to torture you, so…" She glanced over to her companion, signaling what she wanted him to do.

Brandon leaned his head back and opened his mouth. A jet of billowy black smoke escaped his mouth into a corkscrew manner into the air then dove at the terrified secretary. Mandy grabbed Brandon's collapsing body and moved it over to sit in one of the chairs.

The smoke force itself into the secretary's mouth then her eyes suddenly became black and she easily stood up. She looked to Mandy with a vacant expression for several seconds before answering in clear annoyance, "She really didn't know that he's skipped town. She doesn't know where he's gone."

Mandy growled and glanced away while gently sitting Harper's body in a chair, "Damn."

"But…"

The attractive brunette hopefully questioned, "What?"

"She does have access to all his files as secretary, so…"

A wicked smile grew on the pale girl's face. "She might know where he's gone without actually knowing. Where's her computer?"

The possessed secretary turned and headed for the bedroom with the Mandy just a few steps behind.

The reached the room in only a few strides and saw a laptop was resting on one of the dressers.

Mandy approached the dresser and picked up the computer then had a seat on the covers turned bed. She opened it up and booted it up and got onto the apartment's Wi-Fi signal then several seconds later handed it to the female bodied Brandon. "Just get me inside with her passwords, I'll find out what we need to know."

The fellow demon took the laptop and a seat next to her. He typed in the necessary username and passwords to get into Ross's personal files then handed it off to her.

The fair skinned demon quickly typed away, looking into all the inner workings of Ross's life.

North I-95 out of Philadelphia, PA

After Jessica grabbed a quick bite to eat and finishing dressing, she, Danny and the bound reaper was in a black SUV and heading for north out of the city. Danny was behind the wheel as he had uncanny vision they made their way down the interstate and let Jessica catch a nap if necessary in the passenger seat. The reaper was remaining quiet sitting in the center of the backseat.

At the moment, the dirty blonde was too windup to sleep over the events of the last several hours. The only sound other than the sound of the road under them was the radio softly playing the very early morning news, yet there was still an eerie quietness in the vehicle.

Danny seemed to be able to ignore it fine as he focused on the road, but it was bothering Jessica too much and she understood the source. She looked into the rearview mirror to the dark redhead and spoke, "I'm really sorry for doing this to you."

The reaper stared back into the rearview mirror and spat, "Do you think saying that is going to stop me for making you pay once I get out of this binding?"

Jessica shifted in her seat and looked over the left shoulder of the seat. "I'm not saying it to keep you from doing whatever you want to me after we're done. I hate doing it and I wish I didn't. I really wish I didn't, but I promise as soon as we're done that I'll release you and you can do whatever you want to me."

The redhead gazed back at the girl and sensed that she was being sincere in her words. She was frightened and desperate, leading her to such an action. She may have been a being created to keep the natural order between life and death, but that didn't mean she was heartless, quite the contrary where it came to humans. She felt a sense of compassion towards the young woman, but that didn't prevent her from being angered at being bound and what she could be forced to do.

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes."

Jessica patiently asked, "And?"

The shorter woman slightly tilted her head to the side. "You expect me to tell you?"

The young woman disappointedly frowned and simply slumped back into her seat.

The dark redhead wondered if the girl would simply compel her to speak her name, but was surprised when the girl didn't. She thought perhaps she didn't realize she could do such a thing. "I'll tell you my name if you tell me why you want me to get you into Hell and out?"

"Okay, I want to rescue my dad."

"You dad? Your dad's in Hell?"

"Yes."

"How do you know that? How do you know he's not in Heaven?"

The redhead refrained from commenting that even if Jessica's father deserved to go to Heaven, if he had passed in the last two years, he wouldn't be getting inside as the gates were still closed. It was something that haunted the reapers as they heard the confusion and suffering of those souls waiting in the veil to pass onto Heaven. The only solace that they experienced was that they could still take the ones that deserved to go to Hell to their destination and they could still take the souls of monsters to Purgatory. She still wondered why Death with all his power had not stepped in and helped get the gates open so they could do their jobs.

"No, he made a deal with a demon to sell his soul a little more than ten years ago and they collected his soul. I just want to get him out so he can go to Heaven."

The reaper pointed out what she felt was obvious, but clearly had gone over the mortal's head. "He made a deal with them and he owed it to them. He shouldn't have sold his soul if he didn't want to go with them when his time was up."

Jessica turned back around in her seat to look over the shoulder of the seat. "He didn't have a choice. I was in an accident when I was ten. I was comatose and everybody thought I was going to die, but I recovered. It's my fault he's there… that he had to make the deal, so I have to get him out."

The reaper sympathetically looked to Jessica, understanding the love one had towards one's father. She had never met her father, but felt her love towards Him—God, not Death as most other reapers considered him. "Okay… my name is Abigail."

A genuine smile appeared on Jessica's face as she answered, "That's a pretty name."

Abigail couldn't help the small smile that tugged on the corner of her lips and quietly answered, "Thank you."

Danny finally spoke up with a glance into the rearview mirror, "So, how are we going to get into Hell?"

The mood was nearly soured as the question reminded Abigail that she wasn't with them of her own freewill. She took an unnecessary breath and answered in a clipped tone, "If we're trying to sneak into Hell, we can't use the main entrance that my brothers and sisters and I used to bring souls to them. We drop off, we don't go inside and we certainly don't bring flesh and blood to them."

The long haired teenage boy sarcastically remarked, "You make it sound like it's no big deal that you deliver people to Hell. I guess it's just a job to you."

Abigail stared at the rearview mirror and answered, "You think that serial killers, child molesters and the things I don't even want to describe deserve to go to Heaven?"

Danny shut his mouth and focused on the road ahead of him.

The reaper continued, "I'm not their judge, I just take them where they are supposed to go. It's not personal for me, just like it won't be personal when I or a sibling takes you where you are supposed to go one day."

Jessica interrupted before the conversation could turn really nasty, "Then how do we get inside Hell without them realizing it? There has to be a way."

The redheaded reaper thought for a few moments then answered, "There are other ways to get into Hell without them realizing it. There are gates that they're not aware of scattered across the world that can get you inside."

"And you know of them?"

"Yes."

"So where do we have to go?"

"Where are we?"

Jessica pulled out her smartphone from her pocket then quickly pulled up a map of their current location. She turned and handed the phone to the reaper, assuming she could read a map. "The red pointer is our location."

Abigail brushed her fingertip across the surface to zoom-out for the map, surprising Jessica that she would understand how to use the phone. She marked the spot on the map and the phone quickly calculated the route from their current location. "There. There is one in what's called Clifton, Passaic County, New Jersey. You get us there and I can use the gate to slip us inside."

Danny remarked as he looked at his phone attached to the dash being used for navigation. "Good, we're going in that direction. We should be there in an hour."

Hard Rock Hotel  
Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

Christopher Ross relaxed back in his lounge chair and sipped on his drink on the balcony of his Presidential Suite room. It may have been about five in the morning with the sun at least a good hour away from rising, but he was enjoying his newfound sense of freedom.

However, that sense of freedom was cut short when he heard a sharp whistle came from behind him, startling the late forties man. He sat up in his seat and swung his feet out to the rest on the floor to see stepping out of his room and onto the balcony, Mandy and Brandon.

Mandy predatorily grinned yet remarked with a pleasant voice, "I see you like that warmer climate. I think I would get sick of having so much snow as you experience in the winter."

The businessman glared at the intruders and demanded, "Who are you? How did you get up here?"

The female demon smiled and blinked, allowing her black eyes to appear, "Mister Ross, isn't it obvious? We're the ones to collect your debt you owe our boss. You know, the one he sent his hound to retrieve, but you tried to get out of your deal by killing him and running."

Ross leapt up from his seat and looked to the pair with dread and his blood feeling like it was freezing in his veins. He shook his head and uttered, "You can't be here. You shouldn't have been able to find me. I'm… I'm…" He glanced towards the table that he was resting his drink upon to see the small dark brown leather bag still resting where he placed it.

Mandy smirked as she passed a glance to the small bag. She questioned as if she was flattered, "A hex bag? A pretty reasonable precaution, but I'm a modern girl. We tracked you the old fashion way: we followed the money."

The demon took a step to him and he naturally took a step backwards to the guardrail to the balcony. "Did you really think you could escape from your deal?"

He swallowed down fear and tried to tighten his gut enough not to mess his shorts. "I ah… I, well…"

"Oh, you're in so much trouble. It's not the fact that you ran. So many run and it's understandable, but… you killed one of our hellhounds. That… that is why you're going to suffer."

Mandy licked her lips and took another step closer to him. "It wasn't just anyone's hound, but the King's hound."

"King's hounds? What king?"

"The King of Hell."

Ross's face turned a lighter shade of pale than Mandy's face and stuttered, "The Devil's hound?"

The dark haired demon licked her lips and shook her head. "No, Lucifer doesn't run Hell. He's… preoccupied at the moment."

"I ah… I didn't kill the hound. I didn't. I swear."

Mandy took another step towards him and he naturally took another step backwards to the guardrail. She spoke low, just above the breeze coming off the sea, "You didn't kill it did you? You don't have the stomach or the ability to pull it off, so who killed the hound that was sent for you?"

The businessman held his tongue, either due to the wave of fear of the situation or defiance.

Brandon motioned with a nod towards him and asked, "Do you want me to slip inside and find out?"

Mandy reached inside a hidden sheath under the left flap of her leather jacket and pulled out a polished single edged knife. "No, I think I'll have some fun for all the trouble he's caused us.

Ross raised his hands up and confessed, "No, you don't have to do that. It was some girl and her boyfriend. They found me and somehow knew that I had made a deal and offered to help me. She's the one that killed your hound."

Mandy lazily held the point of the blade in his direction and mocked, "Some girl out of the kindness of her heart offered to help you and kill a hellhound?"

"Yes, she said she was a hunter. It's what she does."

The female demon gripped the handle of her knife tightly, ready to plunge it into his heart out of sheer frustration, and set her jaw tight, clearly upset by the news. "What is this hunter's name?"

"Jessica."

"And?"

"That's it. She wouldn't tell me anything else about herself, just that they could help me get away."

"What did they look like?"

"Ah… she's twenty, twenty-one with long dark blonde hair." He lifted his hand to the side and continued, "She's about this tall and thin. She looked Hispanic. Her boyfriend was taller with long black hair and a mustache and trimmed goatee. He was thin build."

The dark haired abomination narrowed eyes on him, trying to sense if he was telling the truth or not. She slipped her knife back inside her jacket and asked, "So I assume you wouldn't know where we could find her?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't have a clue. She killed the hound then they left and I got on a plane… a lot of good it did me."

Mandy stared at him, perhaps trying to will her frustration out on him and kill him by a thought, which wasn't too much out of the question.

Ross instinctively took another step back and tried his best not to lose bowel control as though Mandy was quite the attractive girl with who he wouldn't mind sharing a fun little weekend tryst, she was giving him such a hate filled and terrorizing gaze.

She whispered, "Brandon?"

"Yeah?"

"Get in there and see if there's anything else he knows and we can see exactly what they look like."

Brandon took Ross's former seat the opened his mouth to allow him to escape in the billowy jet of smoke.

Ross screamed terror for the brief moments it took the demon to easily slip past Ross's lips and inhabited his body. His eyes turned black for a moment then reverted to normal. He took several seconds to shift through the businessman's memories then raised his hand and placed two fingers onto Mandy's forehead, sharing all the memories Ross possessed of interacting with Jessica and Danny.

Brandon left Ross's body just as quickly as he entered it and repossessed his original meatsuit.

Ross took several deep breaths, trying to calm is frayed nerves of being temporarily possessed and unable to control his body.

Mandy sweetly spoke, "Thank you Ross, but now it's time to go."

Ross threw his hands up in a panic and rattled off while shuffling away from her until his lower back made contact with the railing, "No wait, maybe we can cut another deal."

"Ross, if it was up to me, I would cut you another deal—an extension if you will, because you could be very useful, but I'm not the one you made your original deal with and my boss didn't say I could extend it, so…"

She gave a gentle push on his chest and he went tumbling backwards over the rail. His screams filled the very early morning as he plunged and uselessly flayed about the dozen stories before hitting the pavement.

The pair of demons looked over the railing to see Ross's sprawled out body with a blood pooling under him.

Brandon lazily questioned, not taking his eyes off the sight, "What now?"

Mandy answered in a detached voice, "Deliver him to Hell then meet me back at his place in Philadelphia. We have to find these hunters and gut them."

* * *

Author's Note: So you've met the rest of the cast and they have a plan. Don't worry, our favorite hunters and angel will appear, but you know they are a little busy with the canon at this moment. Thank you for reading, OneHorseShay.


	3. Chapter 2

Hello readers. If you've stuck with me so far, thank you. I hope you're enjoying this so far.

Rating: T Language, Violence

* * *

Chapter 2

Devil's Gate  
Clifton, Passaic County, NJ

The first slivers of the sun appeared on the horizon as the SUV navigated the narrow street that cut through a wooded area towards the local urban legend of a gateway to Hell. Danny had been correct that they would reach the county within an hour, but it took them an additional half hour to make their way through the town to the supposed location of a gate to Hell.

They rounded down a hill in a large right curve and down several yards to basically make a U-turn. As they started driving in their original direction, they saw that to their right, another large sewage opening into the side of hill they just drove over. The opening allowed a steady stream to exit onto the paved artificial valley and turned into another entrance perpendicular to the original opening.

"Stop," Abigail informed Danny as they passed the high gate that was several yards in front of the opening.

The long haired teenager hesitated, but one glance from Jessica told him that he should listen to the reaper. He took his foot off the gas pedal and applied the brakes, gently bringing the vehicle to an easy stop.

"Why'd we stop? It looks like all the drainage openings we've seen in the last fifteen minutes. I don't see anything that looks like a gate to Hell." He lazily pointed to it and sarcastically remarked, "I doubt the graffiti that says it is the 'Gate to Hell' is accurate."

The redhead pulled herself up in between the seats and pointed past Jessica's face to the right. "It's the one. It'll lead us to the gate."

Danny looked to Jessica to see if they should listen to their captive.

Jessica nodded, so he complied with pulling the vehicle up a little more and pulled it onto the left side of the road in case someone would need to drive around, a very unlikely event. He reached for his phone attached to the dash of the car and marked the GPS coordinates for the car to make sure they could get back to the vehicle before slipping it back into his pocket.

The trio exited the vehicle and Danny put on a pair of sunglasses, though it wasn't anywhere light enough for him to shield his eyes. Jessica walked to the back of the SUV and lifted the door to reach into the backseat. There were two large duffle bags, a large cooler and a smaller cooler. She reached into one of the duffle bags to pull out two flashlights and bolt cutters. She shut the door behind her and rejoined Danny and Abigail.

Jessica handed the bolt cutters to Danny and he proceeded to cut the chain holding the fence closed, ignoring the clear no trespassing sign from the city. The chain dropped and the ends slightly swayed before he pushed open the gate then went back to the SUV to put up the bolt cutters and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun. He reached into an ammo box and swapped out the shells for ones filled with rock salt then closed the door to rejoin them.

Abigail led the way to and into the tunnel with the hunters behind her.

The walked down the dark tunnel with Abigail instinctively knowing her destination, taking several turns with the flashlights being their only source of light and avoiding stepping in the sewage water and other expected things in a drainage tunnel and trying not to be overwhelmed by the stench. It took them about ten minutes until they reached on open area of an underground cavern where several other tunnels connected to it.

There wasn't much light from their flashlights, but from what they could tell, in a circular pattern of earth, there were dead trees with their twisted limps intertwine with one another to form a dome with an opening at the top. In the center of the circle were to larger trees that pocked out of the dome, but their limps were intertwine as well and formed an archway.

The redheaded reaper announced, "Okay, this is it. A gateway into Hell."

Danny glanced around with the beam of light illuminating the places he looked. "Where?"

Abigail pointed to the two larger trees making an archway. "Through those trees."

The friends looked to each other skeptically then back to the reaper. Jessica hesitantly asked, "Okay, how do we open it?"

"A little bit of virgin blood on each of the trunks of the tree and a few words."

Jessica and Danny shared incredulous expressions towards the third member of their party.

Abigail let out an almost childish laugh, "I don't make the rules. Each one has a different way to open them. One gate takes the barrel of a mythical revolver to open."

When the hunters realized she was serious then looked to each other with embarrassed expressions, wondering where they were going to get some virgin blood.

The reaper interrupted, trying her best not to laugh at the pair, "Don't worry. My vessel's a virgin and I can use her blood. Can I borrow a knife?"

Danny was expectedly concerned about handing a weapon to the spirit, but Jessica was curious about the earlier part of the redhead's statement, "Your vessel?"

"The person I'm inhabiting."

Jessica furled her brow and questioned, "You're possessing someone? I thought you were just a spirit."

The redhead casually answered, "I am a spirit, but to interact with the physical world and be seen, I need a vessel."

The female hunter gave her a fearful expression and her body visibly tensed as if preparing to either fight or flee.

Danny accused with a hostile tone, "You mean you need a meatsuit like a demon."

Abigail attempted to quickly explain, slightly offended with his accusation, "She's a devout girl that's letting me use her as a vessel. I have her permission. A demon forces their way inside and uses them against the person's will."

The teenager was about to argue with their captive, but Jessica shook her head and raised a hand. "Enough, we have more important things to worry about."

The reaper guardedly glanced to Jessica, fearful that she could compel her to leave her vessel if the hunter thought that she was forcing her vessel to be used.

Jessica reached into her hip-hugging jeans pocket and pulled out a folded pocketknife. She tossed it to the reaper and stated, "Okay, let's get started."

Abigail opened the knife and started towards the two larger archway trees.

The dirty blonde started to follow her, but Danny gently grabbed her left elbow and pulled her to a stop. She looked to him with a curious gaze.

Danny reached into his jacket and pulled out the angel blade and passed to Jessica. "Be careful."

Jessica gave him a small smile and answered while accepting the blade, "I will."

The pair shared a gaze then the young woman caught up with the reaper just as she was cutting across her left palm with the blade. She lifted her hand and smeared it across the left tree then moved onto the next one. As Abigail smeared blood on the second one, she whispered, "He likes you."

Jessica was surprised by the comment and hesitated for a second before answering, "It's not like that between us. He's my friend."

Abigail could tell that the statement in of itself was true, but the girl had mixed feelings on the subject. The girl's hand stitched itself closed without leaving any mark that it had ever been cut. She folded inexplicably clean blade back into the handle and handed it to Jessica.

The reaper asked with a hint of a smile, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Jessica breathily answered while slipping her pocketknife back into pocket.

Abigail reassuringly smiled to her then looked to the doorway and started speaking in Latin.

The air seemed to electrify around them and whatever fine hair on the back of Jessica's neck started standing up. The space between the trees started to look murky as if fine particles were being mixed into crystal clear water.

Jessica looked over her shoulder to meet Danny's concerned eyes. She nodded her head to reassure him then looked to Abigail.

The reaper took a step forward and Jessica followed her between the trees then disappeared.

Hell

Jessica took a deep breath and tried to get her bearings as she arrived on the other side. The scent of sulfur immediately filled her nostrils and stung her eyes. She wiped her eyes and covered her nose and mouth with her hand. She thought the question was rhetorical, but asked anyway, "Are we here?"

The redhead answered in bated breath, "Yes."

The blonde hunter blinked a few more times to clear her vision then looked down the hallway that looked like it was out of a Dungeons &amp; Dragons game. The hallway had black stone walls and lit with various torches every few yards, giving a reddish-orange ting to everything.

"Can you track him right? Even in here?"

"Yes."

The dirty blonde motioned with her hand and asked with a sense of urgency, "Well?"

"I have his scent. Follow me."

Abigail took Jessica's left hand and started pulling her along. As Jessica tried to ignore the wailings and moans of agony in cell after cell they past, a number of questions ran through her head: This was one part of the plan that she was sketchy on. How big was Hell? Did it actually have a size? How did size and dimension function on another plane of existence? What if they were metaphysically equivalent of the East Coast of the US and her father was on the West Coast?

After only a few minutes, Abigail stopped in front of one of the cells and let go of Jessica's hand.

The taller girl questioned, "Why did we stop?"

Abigail pointed to the cell and answered, "He's in there."

Jessica clenched her jaw and swallowed down a wave of tribulation. "Are you sure? Out of all of Hell, we were that close to him?"

"We haven't exactly been running the entire time. I've been… teleporting us to jump distance."

"Oh… okay." She examined the door and reached out for the handle of the steel door. She pressed the thumb latched and pulled back, surprised that it wasn't locked. She pulled the door opened and was met with a small cell. It was made up of dark grey, nearly black bricks with a number of white marks on nearly every facet of the brick walls. Inside the cell was a single individual with his back turned to her with worn shirt and dirty blue jeans.

The young woman hesitantly called out, "Dad?"

The man with his back turned to her flinched at the sound of her voice. He slowly turned around and stared at her. He had a gaunt face and haunted eyes.

Jessica felt her heart breaking at the sight. She uttered in a distant voice, "Dad?"

He squared his jaw and uttered in a near feral tone, "Get out."

She looked confused for a moment, unsure why he was reacting that way.

He looked like he was about to charge her, but Abigail took a partial step in front of her.

Jessica held her hands up and answered in a pleading tone, "Dad, it's me. It's really me." She motioned to the redhead next to her. "This is Abigail. She's a reaper. We're here to get you out of here and get you to Heaven."

He took a step forward, still studying her as if she was potential prey.

Instincts kicked in for Jessica and she ducked from his wild right swing then grabbed his collar after his arm missed her. She pushed forward, causing him to lose his balance and slam back against the back wall of the cell, and brought the edge of the angel blade to his throat.

The parent and child stared at one another.

Jessica shouted, quickly being brought to near tears, "Dad stop! Please, it's really me. It's me, Jessica."

"Jessica?"

The dirty blonde took a step backwards and the older man pulled his daughter into a hug. She dropped her face against the side of his neck and let out cry.

Abigail remained silent as she watched the pair reunite. However much time she wanted to give them, she couldn't because they were on a clock. "I'm sorry to interrupt the reunion, but someone's bound to notice we're here. We have to go."

Jessica pulled away from her father and looked over her shoulder. "You're right." She began rolling up her left sleeve.

Her father squinted and questioned, "What are you doing?"

"You're just your soul right now and the only way you're getting out is if you have a body to hitch to, so it has to be mine. As soon as we get out, I let you go and you go up to Heaven."

Jessica tried to hold back the tears as she looked away from her bare arm and finish, "This is our only chance for goodbye."

Mister Ramirez had so much more to say to his daughter, but he wanted her out of here far more. He couldn't fathom the idea that she would suffer in this place. The father brought his daughter into a quick hug and whispered, "Okay, I love you."

The father and daughter released each other and Jessica brought the tip of the blade to her skin and started making shallow cut down her forearm. She clenched her teeth in an attempt to ignore the pain of her skin being sliced open.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you on board."

She brought the blade to her father's arm and said, "Your turn."

He held out his arm and she made a similar cut across his skin. Once the cut was made, Jessica grabbed her father's arm and began reciting something in Latin.

Her father started dissolving in a reddish glow and seeping into her arm until he vanished complete. She took a deep breath and stared aimlessly where he just stood, a few stray tears running down her cheeks. She finally looked down in surprise that her arm sealed back up with only a faint reddish-orange glow under her skin.

Abigail pointed out with a genuinely caring tone, "Okay, it's time to go if you want to get out of here alive."

The dirty blonde hunter nodded then the reaper took Jessica's hand led the way out of the cell then down the hallway.

Jessica wasn't sure how long they were running, but it seemed longer than the first time. She hoped that the reaper hadn't gotten them lost, but before she could mention it, Abigail brought them to a stop.

The reaper uttered, "Okay, we're here." She let go of Jessica's hand and started the last few yards towards the gateway.

They were just at the gateway they had entered, when out of the shadows, a burly man ran out and shoulder struck Jessica. She practically went flying into the opposite wall, dropping the angel blade in the process. It clattered on the stone floor, but that was the least of her worries as the demon lifted Jessica off her feet and slammed her back against the wall.

The wind was knocked out of the hunter and she grasped for air and tried to ignore the pain shooting up and down her spine from the impact against the wall. She felt as if she had just been run over by a linebacker and know he was trying to choke the life out of her. She clawed at one hand at her throat while trying to punch the side of his face with the other. She had a stray thought running though her mind of what would happen to her if she died down here.

The demon didn't look as if he felt the strikes against his jaw and just wickedly smiled at her pain.

He stopped smiling when Abigail picked up the blade and grabbed the demon's left shoulder then plunged the blade between his shoulder blades.

The demon screamed and his eyes glowed orange with the light that illuminated under his skin and outlining his skull. He released Jessica and collapsed to the floor, the blade sliding out from him.

The blonde dropped to her knees, catching herself at the last moment then took several deep breaths and rubbed on her throat then uttered in bated breath, "Thanks."

Abigail looped an arm under Jessica's left one and helped her stand. "You're welcome."

A number of footsteps started echoing down the hallway and the girls turned to see several more demons running down the hallway towards them. Abigail raised a hand and flicked her fingers, causing a dozen doors or so to open on either side of the corridor.

The prisoners stepped out of their cells and the demons crashed into the first few that were in their way. They started getting into wrestling matches while the others started running away from them.

In the meantime, the hunter and reaper raced to reach the gateway. It only looked like an archway with the passage hidden by the deepest shadow. Abigail didn't hesitate to charge at it with Jessica right on her heels.

They jumped through the portal and a moment later they appeared in the clearing of dirt and dead twisted trees.

Danny rushed to the pair and shouted, "Jessica!"

The duo pulled themselves up from the dirt, Abigail being the first on her feet, still holding the angel blade.

Danny helped Jessica onto her feet, holding onto her elbows, and asked, "You okay?"

Jessica rubbed her left palm over the back of her neck and uttered, "I'm a little sore, but I'll be fine."

The teenager didn't look entirely convinced, but he really couldn't argue with her. He turned his focus on the drafted third member of their team and saw that she was holding the blade that he had given Jessica. For a moment he thought there would be a stand off, but the reaper turned the blade to herself and offered the handle to Jessica.

The dirty blonde took the long knife/short-sword and quietly spoke, "Thank you."

She actually took a step forward and hugged the reaper, forgetting the girl could literally kill her with a touch.

Abigail eyes nearly popped out from the reaction then hesitantly patted her on the back, remembering the concept of a hug—something that angels had to avoid with Cherubs. After the first few seconds, she didn't think they were all that bad. She finally uttered, remembering it was the polite thing to do, "You're welcome."

Jessica pulled away from the bound reaper just ask Danny asked, "So, did you get him?'

The blonde hunter took several more breaths and answered with a near ecstatic expression, "Yeah. I got him."

"Okay, now we just have to get outside and released him to go to Heaven then…" She turned to Abigail and finished, "…I can release you."

Jessica noticed Abigail's troubled face and asked, "What?"

The redhead hesitantly admitted, genuinely feeling sorry for the bad news she was about to speak, "You can't release him into Heaven."

"Why?"

"Because the gates are closed and locked."

Danny squinted and questioned, "Closed?"

"Yes, no souls can get in after they pass on."

Jessica asked in a near panic, "What do you mean no one is getting into Heaven?"

The reaper darted her eyes back and forth between the pair then answered, "Did you see the freak meteor shower about two years ago?"

Danny cautiously answered, "Yeah."

"Those weren't meteors, they were angels… angels being expelled from Heaven and the gates shut behind them. Human souls can move on to Heaven, trapped in the veil and I and the other reapers can't get in to take them. We can take souls to Hell and Purgatory, but not Heaven. We're locked out."

Jessica looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

Abigail may have been bound to the girl against her will, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel a little compassion for her.

The young woman shook her head and subconsciously raised the angel blade towards Abigail as she shouted, "No, that's not funny. That's not something to joke to me about!"

The reaper shook her head and the muscles around her eyes tightened and formed an expression as if she was a small child ready to cry. "I'm not. I haven't been to heave since the Fall. All we can hear is the lost souls that can't pass over and there's nothing we can do about. It's starting to drive some of us mad already. I hear them constantly and the only break I've gotten is when we were in Hell."

Danny snapped in an accusing tone, "Why didn't you tell us?"

The fairly short young woman glanced to the long haired teenager and answered, "Would it have made a difference?" She looked back to Jessica to finish her point, "Would you have let him suffer in Hell? Better to be out here than in there?"

Jessica swallowed down the emotion caught in her throat and a tear fell from her eye and started to roll down her cheek. She looked away and her knees felt weak. She knelt down and halfway down, she collapsed onto her bottom. She felt her chest constrict with the overwhelming sense of helplessness in knowing that her father would be trapped as a ghost instead of going to Paradise.

Danny knelt down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, attempting to comfort her.

Abigail took a soft breath then offered, "There is a way to get into Heaven though—a portal that will take you up."

Jessica looked to her with a hopeful expression. "Do you know where it is?"

The hunter had asked the reaper, not commanded her to answer, so she didn't have to answer. However, she decided to answer anyway, "Yes."

Jessica timidly asked, "Will you take us to it?"

The redheaded reaper nodded and answered, "Yes."

Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA

The sun was just peaking up above the horizon and the first rays of the morning were filtering into Ross's home office. It was an impressive office worthy of any Fortune 500 company's business office and custom furniture high end furniture. There were various pictures of Ross with his family and titans of the business and entertainment worlds, a testament to the size of his ego and how well his soul selling deal worked out for him over the last ten years.

Mandy was sitting behind Ross's desk with his laptop that she had taken from his hotel room resting on it already booted up. The rest of the desk was fairly clear other than some family pictures near the front edge of the desk and a number of color pencils randomly lying together beside the laptop. She had her feet propped up on the left corner of the desk and using one of his large white legal pads to sketch out and color a portrait. She was just finishing it when Brandon appeared at the entranceway and called out with particularly glee in his voice, "Okay, that's done. One soul delivered to Hell."

"Good," Mandy absently commented as she finished her sketch.

The tall muscular demon walked around the end of the desk and glanced down at the picture. "You're good."

She shrugged a shoulder and lazily replied, "It was a hobby when I was alive. Now I can take it and see if I can find out who our mystery hunter is…"

A ringing sound emanated from Mandy's left jacket pocket to interrupt her train of thought. She dropped her pad on the desk along with her feet and reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She looked at the caller ID and raised a curious eyebrow. She pressed the answer button and softly questioned, "Yes, what is it?"

"_We have a problem,"_ the sheepish voice of Hell's switchboard operator stated with a near panic to his voice. He was a bashful fellow that a number of demons questioned whether he was one or not he was one of them.

She politely answered, "I already have a problem."

_"Well we as in we of Hell have a shared problem."_

Mandy knotted her brow and asked with tribulation in her voice, "What is it?"

_"Someone got into Hell and stole a soul."_

The lovely demon's eyes went wide and uttered in disbelief, "What?"

_"Yes. It's… it's pretty nuts right now and the King is very upset. Everyone is to drop everything and find out who did it and bring it back."_

"Do we have any idea who we're looking for?"

_"A young woman of Latino ethnicity with dirty blonde hair, early to mid-twenties. There was a short a dark redhead girl with her. They killed at least one demon during their escape."_

Mandy raised an eyebrow at hearing the description and a twinge of fear ran through the possessed body. She had a good reason to be fearful as the situation could easily be laid at her feet and Crowley could take it out on her for failing to get the people responsible for killing his hellhound before they pulled off such a coup. She was not going to end up as some sacrificial lamb.

The dark haired demon licked her lips and curtly told him, "Thanks for the heads up. We'll be on the lookout for her. Bye."

_"Wait, he also said—"_ he began, but Mandy hit the end call button to cut him off.

Brandon knotted his brow and questioned while slipping her phone back into her pocket. "Why didn't you tell him we know who it is?"

She glanced back at him, being far more patient with him than any number of other demons. "Because I didn't want him going and running off to Crowley. He might blame us for not catching her in time to prevent her… jailbreak."

"Point. We still have the same problem. We don't have a clue where she might be."

"That's something I'm attempting to solve right now."

She stood up from her seat and tore out the piece of paper with her sketch then walked to Ross's printer/copier/scanner. She opened the top and placed the piece of paper into it then hit the scan button to send it to the laptop.

Mandy returned to her seat as the machine digitalized the picture. She pulled her phone back out of her pocket and dialed a number as the scanned picture appeared on the screen.

Brandon curiously asked, "Who are you calling?"

"Waldroff Financial. I'm going to have one of our contacts see if they can match the face with the name and give us this girl's history."

She waited several seconds until the other end of the phone picked up, _"This is Mister Cliff St. John. How can I help you?"_

She blew out a breath to try to calm her nerves and politely answered, "Hello, this is Mandy. I need you to track some information down for me on a girl I'm trying to track down. I have a sketch for you to compare with facial recognition to get her full name. Her first name is Jessica."

"_Mandy?"_ the demon on the other end happily questioned.

She bore an unseen grin as she couldn't stand his regular voice or even him in particular. He was badgering annoying with an obvious crush on her whenever they crossed paths, somehow forgetting that they weren't human anymore and didn't have those kind of relationships—as she liked to deny herself. He didn't even pick appealing looking meatsuits. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him and snapped back sarcastically, "Yes it's me. Now I need your help. It's very important."

"_Okay, just send it to me."_ He followed up by quickly rattling off a secure email to use.

Mandy cradled the phone between her ear and right shoulder and quickly typed away to bring up the encrypted email and sent off the scanned picture. "Okay, there."

"_Just give me a few minutes to see if I can find a match."_ As they waited for a hit, Cliff attempted to chat up some small talk, _"That's a nice drawing."_

The apprentice crossroads demon held her tongue for a few ticks of the old grandfather clock in the office then sweetly answered, "Thank you. That's very kind of you to say." She regretted her words as soon as they past her lips, believing that she had been too complimentary to him.

_"You're welcome… Okay, I got a hit. I found her by a school ID… New York University. Her name is Jessica Ramirez."_ He paused for a second to silent read over his screen. _"She was born February eleventh, ninety-four in New York City. She was going to NYU, but she dropped out this semester."_

"Any idea why?"

She could hear typing on the other end.

Cliff idly answered as he read off his screen, _"It looks like her father died of an animal attack at the end of last year just at the end of the semester…"_

"Animal attack?"

_"Yeah, it looks like a pretty nasty one. It ripped him to shreds."_

Mandy raised an eyebrow, her mind instantly putting a few pieces together and offhandedly suggested, "Could it be a hellhound?"

_"It would fit. Hey, could this be the guy that was snatched from Hell? Is she the one that broke into Hell? They sent out an alert to everyone."_

Mandy licked her lips and pushed down her irritation that he could have made the connection so quickly. He could be a little thick, but he wasn't stupid and denying it would be pointless. She still reluctant to answer him, but did anyway, "It might be. I'm tracking down my own lead on that, but I need you to keep this hush, hush. I'd like to get the credit for it—if I'm right and that is a big if—because I'm hoping to keep my job as a permanent thing since Guthrie's death or maybe a promotion… and share the credit with you, but we can't have this spread around and someone snatch it from us."

"_Okay, I can keep quiet."_

"Before you do that, could you give me a current address?"

Cliff typed away again and read off, _"Since she was living on campus before she dropped out… the house, her parents' house is in her name now. I'll email it to you on the same email server. Stick to this if you need anything else. We don't want the others overhearing us."_

Mandy thought Cliff could be an irritation, but he had his moments of thoughtfulness. There was a reason after all that he had his job at the NSA front company for their King. She held her tongue on the praise and instead questioned, "Can you track her banking account if she has one or credit cards? Maybe figure out her location with recent purchases?"

"_That's going to take me a few minutes. It's illegal—"_

Mandy rolled her eyes and muttered in what she felt was an unnecessary reminder, "We're demons."

Cliff surprised her by showing a backbone with snapping back, _"It's not that. It's I just have to make sure I cover my tracks because I'm having to hack some banks and other institutes. I may be at the NSA, but I don't want any supervisors or FBI looking in this direction. I don't want to burn my position here."_

"Okay, do what you have to do."

Mandy started drumming her fingers on the desk while she heard the demon on the other end typing away looking up the information she wanted to know. She glanced up to Brandon, meeting his eyes with an impatient expression. Finally Cliff answered, _"Okay, she doesn't have much in her banking account and there haven't been any recent withdrawals. There haven't been any recent hits on her credit cards either."_

"So you can't tell me where she's been lately?"

He answered regretfully, _"No."_

"I guess I'll have to do it the old fashion way. Did you find anything that could tell you what she's been up to since she dropped out of school?"

_"Other than inherit the house after his death and pay the taxes, she's mostly fallen off the grid."_

Mandy scrawled, seeing that was obvious if this Jessica was a hunter. They usually kept a very low profile. She probably ran into a few hunters, figured out what happened and she got them to train her. The Danny fellow looked too young to be that experienced a hunter. They must have gone on their own for this crazy stunt of rescuing her father—the logical assumption of who she snatched out. She just had to figure out the identity of the redhead that was spotted with Jessica in Hell.

"Find out what she's driving and keep an eye out for any traffic cams that it might appear on."

_"Gotcha. I'll send that right to you."  
_

"Thanks Cliff. I'll keep you in the loop."

_"I'll send you anything else I uncover."_

She tapped the end call button on her smart phone and slipped it back into the pocket of her leather jacket.

Brandon incredulously asked, "You're really going to give him any credit?"

"Yes. If we can actually catch them then yes. I'm not going to burn that bridge."

The tall muscular demon held his tongue at the pragmatic approach to the situation. After working with Mandy for a while, he understood that with her unlike other demons, being evil and stripped of most—if not all—of her humanity didn't make her stupid or one to shoot herself in the foot just to do something evil.

"So what do we do now? Check out the house?"

"No, she's on a mission and not just go home. Killing the hound was probably just an 'F-you' to us, but getting her dad out was her goal."

"If it was her dad she got out. Maybe you should have asked Cliff to confirm who got snatched or call the switchboard."

"I can't tip our hand like that. The 'animal attack' was enough for me and her getting into Hell, so we're not going to worry about that. Okay, she got him out of Hell, what would she do with his soul?"

"Release it? It might go straight up to Heaven?"

Mandy shook her head and offhandedly almost detachedly explained, "No, the gates are closed. Souls meant for Heaven can't get in. They're just wandering in the veil."

Brandon snorted with a half smirk. "Too bad we can't snatch them up for Hell."

The lovely bodied demon knotted her eyebrows and responded in a low tone, "They're not meant for Hell."

"Mandy, don't tell me you've gone soft."

She turned a deadly glare at him and lifted her hand before clenching it into a fist.

Brandon suddenly felt his throat and chest constrict, catching the larger and supposedly physically stronger demon by surprise and nearly bringing him to his knees. He barely caught himself by the edge of the desk. He hung his head low and coughed up a bit of blood onto the desk.

The sandy haired demon looked up to meet the blue eyes of his companion. She whispered softly with a deadly edge to her words, "Hell is for the damned, not for the innocent or the righteous. Don't get greedy."

She maintained her stare for several tense moments, making sure he understood that her opinion didn't mean she was weak. Once she thought he got the message, she dropped her hand and telekinetically let him go.

He stood up and took several deep breaths before wiping him mouth with the back of his hand. He muttered, "The boss might disagree with that."

"Perhaps…"

She disregarded that topic of discussion and continued, "So they can't get into Heaven, maybe she's going to try to resurrect him? Get the right spell and having him with her, she might actually be able to really bring him back normal."

"If that's the case then where's his body?"

Mandy snapped her fingers. "That's where they'll be heading. They'll get his body and perform whatever ritual they found. We'll catch them when they go to get the body."

"Assuming they don't already have the body?"

The pretty faced demon softly snarled at him. "Just rain on my parade."

"Sorry, but I have a point," he answered, but not too apologetically after feeling his insides being squeezed.

Mandy took a deep, unnecessary breath then slowly let it out. She turned back to the laptop in front of her and started typing away.

Brandon rounded the end of the desk to look over her shoulder and perhaps look down her cleavage. "What are you doing now?"

The female demon kept her attention on the screen and answered, "I'm finding out where oh Mister Ramirez is buried and seeing if there is any police report about a grave robbery."

She quickly looked up the obituaries to track down when and where the late Mister Ramirez was buried. After only a few minutes of searching, she found what she was looking for and smiled as she didn't find any recent reports of vandalism or outright theft of a corpse.

"Okay, they haven't gotten him, so we know where they'll probably heading."

"And?"

She glanced away from the screen to meet his eyes. "And what?"

"We're just going to show up and catch them?"

"It's straightforward and they wouldn't be expecting us. We'll catch them by surprise."

"It's that a little dangerous? These aren't typical run-of-the-mill hunters. They were able to kill a hellhound and break into Hell. They're smart and must be packing something if they killed a hellhound and one of us before getting out. I know you can kill a hellhound with enough salt and iron, but with us they had to have something."

Mandy leaned back in the chair, glancing away at the finely made desk and muttered, "You're right. They have to be carrying something like the knife the Winchesters carry or angel blades or… the mythical Colt."

"Should we get some backup?"

The young woman appearing demon stood up and answered, "No. We can't risk them selling us out. I am not going to be blamed for what happened in Hell by them."

"He could blame us anyway," he worriedly pointed out.

"Perhaps, but bringing back the soul and them to him will soften the blow. We have to get them anyway for the hound or he'll punish us anyway."

"So what are we going to do?"

Mandy swiveled in her chair and started browsing. She smiled while thinking out loud, "Where is the closest place we can get some body armor…"

* * *

Author's Note: So the plot thickens and now a race to Heaven. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you next week.


	4. Chapter 3

Thank you to the ones that have stuck with this story. I have a double update for you and hope you enjoy.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 3

I-70 West

Danny was behind the wheel maintaining the speed with the flow of traffic in the early morning as to not stand out from the rest of the traffic as he did spot the occasional Pennsylvania state trooper up on the highway. He was keeping his eyes out for an exit for someplace to stop and eat despite Jessica's insistence that they keep going.

Jessica was in the passenger seat and rubbed her inner right forearm, feeling the warmly dull sensation underneath the skin. She was near the point of scratching it, so she decided to distract herself as the radio wasn't occupying her attention by looking in the rearview mirror and asking Abigail, "Why were the angels cast out of Heaven?"

The reaper softly bit into her bottom lip, debating whether to bring up that painful family drama, but ultimately deciding to answer, "An angel named Metatron cast a spell to eject the angels from Heaven and closed it off behind us. He wanted it all to himself at first, but then he got it into his head that he wanted to be God. He started getting angels to follow him with the promise of coming back to Heaven and a lot of my brothers and sisters decided that they were so desperate for Heaven that they decided to follow him."

Danny threw the question behind his shoulder, "Your brothers and sisters?"

The redhead slightly squinted, confused by the question. "Yes, my brothers and sisters."

Jessica questioned, genuinely surprised, "Wait? Are you an angel? I thought you were just kind of spirit."

"Yes, reapers are angels. We just don't stay in Heaven most of the time—before the Fall, I mean. Our Father put us under Death's jurisdiction to make sure souls pass on where they are supposed to go."

Danny pointed out, "What about ghosts? If you're supposed to make sure they're supposed to pass on, how do you explain them?"

Abigail shrugged a shoulder. "Some refuse to pass on; they're will is just too strong with unfinished business or tragedy and we can't make them go. If you take into account every person that has ever existed, over a hundred billion, several thousand ghosts over all that time isn't even a bleep. We're not perfect, but as I point out, we do a good job."

The long haired teenager tried to keep the embarrassment off of his face from her chiding.

Jessica asked with a hint of tribulation, "What stopped this Metatron from becoming God? I assume he's not pretending to be God right now."

"Castiel—some say he's Father's favorite now—let us know what he was up to—as if we didn't really know. Castiel got him to admit his plan openly to everyone and I guess the fact that it was open about it and… he told them the truth about how much they had become frightened little sheep that would do anything to get back to Heaven was too much to keep the illusion up that it was all right for them to follow him. Everyone knew it and it was alright—the open secret—until someone actually voiced it."

Danny weary questioned, "So I take it that you didn't follow this Megatron guy?"

"Metatron and no. He's the one that cast us out. I want to be able to go back to Heaven and ferry the souls, but I wasn't going to bow to him."

The blonde hunter curiously questioned, "If angels are running Heaven again without him, how come they just don't open the gates to let the rest of you back inside and the ones meant for Heaven?"

"They say they don't know how and Metatron isn't talking. I'm not sure how much I believe them. A lot of them are… what would humans call them…" She licked her lips, searching her memory then excitedly stated in realizing she found the word, "Elitist, they're kind of elitist. Most already look down at humans. 'Hairless ape' is a common phrase even when they claim to care about humans because they see themselves as better and it extends at times to us Reapers and the Cupids."

The attractive young woman partially turned in her seat to look over her shoulder and clarify, "Cupids? Chubby babies with bows and arrows?"

"They're not like that. They occupy vessels like any other angel, but they do have bows in a sense."

Danny dismissively laughed, "To make people fall in love with each other?"

"Yes."

The driver flickered his eyes back and forth from the road to the rearview mirror several times before asking, "You're serious?"

"Yes. They make sure certain people get together to continue special bloodlines."

"Why?"

"For vessels. Not everyone can contain the power of us. If someone accepts us and they're body can't handle us then…"

Jessica asked with growing concern, "Then what happens?"

"Some start to deteriorate no matter how much one would heal them then there are the ones that…"

"What?"

"Explode."

The hunters asked as one, "Explode?"

Abigail helplessly smiled and shrugged her shoulder. "We're powerful beings and for some of us, one's true size can be multi-story buildings."

Jessica straightened back and faced forward in her seat and just shook her head. That was a mind-full.

Silence fell in the SUV for the next dozen miles until another question came to Jessica's mind, "Where's God in all this?"

"I don't know. No one knows where He is."

Danny piped up, "You don't know where God is?"

"No, He just left a long time ago and left Michael to run Heaven. He was kind of standoffish, but everything was fine. Heaven ran orderly and everyone went about their business as we're supposed to until the Apocalypse."

"Apocalypse?"

"Yes."

Jessica turned in her seat again and directed a dismayed expression towards their passenger. She stuttered, "Ar-are you—you saying that the end of the world happened?"

"It ah… got derailed."

Danny flicked a glance towards the rearview mirror. "Derailed?"

"Yeah, instead of Michael and Lucifer fighting it out and bringing paradise to Earth, they both got trapped in the cage that has kept Lucifer bound for most of time. After that, Raphael wanted to open it again so they could get things back on track, but Castiel led a civil war to stop him. It went on for more than a year before Raphael and the angels that sided with him were wiped out."

Danny asked what he thought was the obvious question, "Why would anyone try to stop bringing paradise?"

"Because Michael and Lucifer fighting it out would have probably destroyed most of the planet and killed billions of people before there would have been any paradise—assuming Michael would have won. The people that died would have been forgiven and been at peace in paradise, but what good is paradise starting off drenched in all that blood?"

The vehicle was left silent other than the radio playing softly.

Since Jessica had the opportunity she thought would never come again, she asked, "What's He like? God, I mean before he left."

"I don't know."

Danny piped in, "How do you not know?"

"I've never met my Father."

Jessica incredulously asked, "How have you never met God?"

"Only a handful has ever met Him. The archangels, Gadreel, Metatron and perhaps Joshua."

"If He created you, why wouldn't He have met all of you."

"I don't know. He's as much a mystery to us as He is to you. I answered to Death and the others to Michael and Raphael before the Apocalypse. As I said, everything ran smoothly before then."

Jessica quietly consoled her, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For you never to know your father."

Abigail crossed her arms under her chest and glanced out of the passenger window. She uttered regretfully, "It doesn't matter. My Father doesn't love me or any of us or He wouldn't have let us fought like this and so many of us died."

Danny pointed out, "He lets us kill each other."

"You were given freewill, but we… most of us can't handle it. Metatron was right; we are like sheep and follow the strongest as that's what we are: instruments. We need order and direction or… we're just children with nukes and the rest of the universe pays for it."

Jessica had no words of comfort for their forced companion and another awkward silent fell within the vehicle.

Calvary Cemetery  
49-02 Laurel Hill Boulevard  
Woodside, NY 11377

The pair of demons appeared just outside the cemetery's office. Mandy took the lead and the pair momentarily stopped to notice the operating hours and seeing that there was still about an hour before they opened. She kicked open the door, easily breaking the lock and walked inside, scanning to see if anyone had arrived early. They didn't see or hear anyone else and Mandy was all the happy for it. She didn't want to leave a string of dead body in her wake.

The dark haired demon quickly headed for the secretary's desk and booted up the computer. She took a seat and impatiently drummed her fingers on the desk, waiting for the little less than state-of-the-art machine to finishing loading. As she waited, she noticed a little sticky note with a log-in and password. She held back a chuckle at seeing that someone was smiling upon her.

Once the computer finished booting, she typed in the secretary's ID and password then brought up the database. She typed away to search for the location of Jessica's father. She licked her lips and smiled at how easy it was to find him. She took a sticky note off the dispenser and grabbed a pen to write down the location. She handed it to Brandon and stated, "Go check to make sure he's still there."

"But you said there wasn't any news of a—"

She impatiently cut him off, "Just double-check."

Brandon sighed, but relented to her instructions and rushed out the door and she patiently waited for his return. She glanced around in the meantime and noticed the crucifix hanging above the door opposite of her. Demons didn't necessarily flinch from them like certain cinematic vampires, but most of them weren't comfortable with them like being touched by iron or holy water or being on consecrated ground.

The lovely bodied demon's mind however drifted to a long intentionally buried memory…

Los Angeles, CA  
1918

A young woman, no more than twenty years old, with fair skin, a lack of shade on the pale side, and dark long brown hair knelt down in front of the altar and a large hanging crucifix in a hospital's chapel. Tears trailed down her flush cheeks and she had her hands clasped together with laced fingers. She sniffled, trying to prevent herself from breaking down as she prayed, "Please oh Lord, spare my baby. My husband is already in Your presence from the Great War, please don't take her too. I beg you Lord, smile down on my child and spare her of the fate of so many others."

She bowed her head to rest against her clenched fists.

The sound of a clearing voice came from behind her, drawing her attention from her prayers. She partially twisted to her right to glance behind her to see an older gentleman in a well tailored suit. He had grey hair and a full beard with a think handlebar mustache.

The gentleman smiled to her. "I'm sorry my dear for interrupting, but I believe that I can be of some assistance."

She stood up and brushed down the wrinkles of her dull colored dress. She brushed the fallen tears off the cheeks with the pads of her fingers then answered, "Unless you're a doctor, and if you'll forgive me sir, you look far too well dressed to be a doctor, I don't know how you can help me."

The older man kindly smiled to her and approached her with a confident stride. "No, I'm no doctor my dear." He offered her his hand and gave her a grandfatherly smile as he introduced himself, "My name is Guthrie and I believe I can help you… if you're willing to pay the price for your daughter."

The young mother looked into his eyes and thought for a moment that he had such kind eyes…

* * *

A voice called out her from the distance, "Mandy? Mandy?"

Mandy took a deep breath and refocused her attention to the present. She looked to him and quickly questioned, "So? What did you find?"

Brandon studied her for several moments, trying to figure out where her mind had gone while he was out.

"Well?" she quickly cut him off from his staring.

"Oh, ah, it's still intact."

"Good, so we beat them to it. Now we just have to wait for them to show up."

The muscular demon scowled and glanced around the room, not really liking the suggestion, but not really having a choice. He found a stray seat and plopped down in it. He brushed his palm over his mouth and asked, "How long do you think we should wait? I don't feel comfortable around here."

Mandy relaxed back in her chair and calmly explained, "It's actually consecrated ground, that's why it's giving you the jitters."

"Why isn't it bothering you?"

The lovely demon lazily shrugged a shoulder. "I guess it's just never bothered me."

"Well it's bothering me. I just wish we had a way to know when they were showing up. Maybe you should call Cliff and see if he's had any hits on them?"

She sighed, annoyed with the situation than towards him. Consecrated ground bothered the vast majority of demons and Brandon wasn't any different. She really didn't want to talk to Cliff, but she couldn't have Brandon get too jitter. The last thing she needed was a trigger happy demon.

"Okay, I have a little trick that I alluded to him that I could use to track them. Stay here and I'll be right back.

"Where are you—"

She vanished from sight.

Brandon sighed. He took a seat and patiently waited for his 'boss' to return.

Mandy returned to the room in less than five minutes between blinks. She walked back around the desk and unfolded one of a handful of folded maps she had stolen from a local convenience store onto the desk.

The larger demon stepped beside her and asked, "What are you doing?"

She flattened the East Coast map of the United States and answered, "A location spell. We know Jessica's full name along with her description, I can pinpoint her location."

"If you can do that, why didn't we just use this spell to find Ross and save us all the trouble to look through his finances?"

"Because we needed to know where he was going, not where he was. All it would have shown us was that he was somewhere in the air over the ocean. That wouldn't have done us any good. I'm not trying to hop in a moving airplane and snatching him. We don't need that attention."

"But you'll throw him over the balcony and watch him go splat?"

"It looks like suicide and if it doesn't, it's just some unsolved murder. It wouldn't have any telltale of anything supernatural."

Mandy cut off the conversation by starting to recite a few words in Latin along with Jessica's recognizable name then pulled out a lighter to light the corner of the map. The flame jetted along the edges and around the corners. The map burnt up in mere seconds without leaving any ash until it left a small rectangular piece with an arrow point at one end. Mandy picked it up and saw what was left then hissed out, "Damn."

"What?"

She showed him the remnant of the map and answered, "They're moving at a considerable speed—which makes sense since they are on an interstate…" She examined the direction of the left map and stated in disgust, "…and they heading away from us. They're on any place on this strip right now and we could pop up exactly next to them and watch them fly by us at seventy, eighty miles an hour. They're not trying to resurrect him…"

He joked, "We could appear in front of them. That would get them to stop."

Mandy softly glared at him and remarked, "I like this body and I don't want to damage it unnecessarily and jumping in front of a car going that fast is certainly something that would damage it.

The taller demon leered. "It is a mighty fine body and would be a shame if you got hurt."

The shorter demon wanted to smack him, but he had a valid point—the point she wanted to make to potential soul sellers. She ignored his statement and stated, "Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?"

"Do our own research on her and try to figure out her next move. I'll do the spell every hour hoping they'll stop to sleep at some point then we'll get them."

"Fine by me," he eagerly stated and headed out of the door before her.

Just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

After several more hours of riding, Danny noticed a sign that said there were restaurants ahead if one took the upcoming exit. He would have stopped earlier, but Jessica had doze off not too long after Abigail's recap of what was happening in Heaven and he didn't want to disturb her from her sleep. However, now that she was waking up, he was determined for them to stop and let her get something to eat.

Jessica noticed that he turned on his right blinker and asked, "Why are you taking us off the freeway?"

Danny glanced at the rearview mirror to make sure he wasn't cutting off anyone and answered, "We're making a pit stop. We're going to get something to eat and top off the tank."

She glanced at the gauge and saw that they had just over half a tank, plenty to go before another stop.

"No, don't stop. We can't stop. We have to get to Kansas."

Danny emphatically retorted, "We'll get there but you have to get something to eat then get some sleep. You've been up for nearly that last twenty-four hours besides killing a hellhound and taking a trip to Hell. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? The bags under your eyes look like you put on more eye shadow than some gothic kid."

"We have an entire cooler full of food and drinks. I can just grab something out of there."

He countered as they finished getting off the off-ramp and approached the nearest food establishment, "You need a real, hot meal, not what snacks we packed."

Abigail added with a concerned filled voice, "I think you should listen to him. You're not well."

Jessica darted her eyes back and forth, seeing that she was being ganged up on. However, she just wasn't going to roll over. "I'm fine. Yes, I'm tired, but I can get some more sleep in the backseat."

"No, I mean, you're not well."

Danny spared a quick glance into the rearview mirror and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean on a subatomic level." She looked at Jessica and continued, "You're not well. You could use a good meal and a couple of days sleep then you might start recovering."

A worried expression formed on the youngest of the trio's faces. He swallowed and asked, "You're a reaper; can't you heal her?"

The redheaded reaper hesitated for several seconds before answering, "That's not what we're supposed to do. We're not really supposed to go against the natural order. I'm not sure I can."

He snapped in frustration, "You're on a leash; you really don't have a choice on the matter."

Jessica glared at her friend and stated unequivocally, "I'm not going to force her to do that."

"Jessica—"

"No. I only bound her to get me into Hell and if we didn't have to make this trip to this portal, I would have already released her."

"And she would have killed you on the spot."

Jessica looked over her shoulder to meet Abigail's eyes and answered, "If that's what she wants to do."

Abigail stared back slightly squinting as if attempting to assess the hunter in a different light.

"I'll kill her before I let that happen," Danny spoke as if he was making a solemn vow.

The hunter looked into the review mirror again and he and the reaper passed glances with one another, throwing down the preverbal gauntlet.

Biggerson's Restaurant  
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

About fifteen minutes after getting off the off-ramp, Jessica, Danny and Abigail found a secluded corner of the restaurant away from the sun. Danny and Jessica sat on one side of the booth with Abigail on the other side to partially block the sun towards the pair. The young man of the group kept his sunglasses on as he looked at the menu.

Jessica eyed over the various menu items and as much as she was still annoyed with Danny for having them stop, was looking forward to a hot meal. She didn't take too much longer as breakfast was wrapping up being served. She made her decision and sat the menu down.

She glanced over to Abigail and saw that she was just sitting there, looking back at them in an almost vacant expression.

The blonde haired hunter slightly knotted her brow and asked, "Are you going to order anything?"

Abigail blinked and answered slightly confused with the question, "I don't eat; why would I get anything?"

Danny glanced from his menu and suggested, "Maybe the girl you're possessing would like something to eat?"

Abigail softly glared to the long haired and corrected, "I'm not 'possessing' her. She's allowing me to use her as a vessel. I am taking care of all her physical needs, so she doesn't have to eat. You may not like me, but there's no reason to insult her."

"I'm not insulting her. She's the poor girl you've hijacked. She has my pity."

The redhead's nostrils flared and looked as if she was about to snap at him, but Jessica jumped into the conversation before an argument could break out, "But maybe she would like to eat? Do you know what she likes for breakfast?"

The reaper thought for it for a moment then picked up a menu. She glanced over the choices and recalled what the near twenty year old young woman enjoyed eating.

A waitress approached the table with pad in hand and asked, "Are you ready to order?"

Jessica ordered first, "I'd like some eggs and a sausage biscuit and some orange juice."

Danny followed as he closed his menu, "I'll take some eggs too but with a pancake."

Abigail looked to the plumped lady and bashfully answered, "I'd like some pancakes with whipped cream and a strawberry if you have any?"

The waitress gave her a motherly smile, sensing that she had a younger mindset than her physical appearance, and answered, "Okay dear. What would you like to drink?"

The redhead hesitated in answering, unsure of what to get.

Jessica happily spoke up for her, "She'd like an orange juice."

The short haired waitress politely smiled to the redhead then went on her way to fulfill the order.

As soon as the waitress had walked away, Abigail slightly leaned forward and asked, "Orange juice? You can turn a color into a juice?"

Danny rolled his eyes unseen behind the sunglasses and shook his head.

Jessica laughed and answered with far more patience, "No, the fruit. They get all the juice out of the fruit and turn it into a drink."

Abigail's eyes opened wide and answered as if she had some great revelation, "Ohhh that makes sense. Is it like you do apple juice?"

"They don't squeeze the apples, but they do make juice out of them."

The reaper nodded, trying to understand. They idly waited a few minutes, Jessica hoping to avoid Danny and Abigail into getting into another argument.

The waitress returned and set their plates in front of trio.

The reaper took a sip from the orange juice then made a face and started smacking her lips.

Jessica curiously enquired, "What? You don't like orange juice?"

Abigail returned with a pitiful expression. "I don't know. I'm distinguishing each molecule instead of the whole. I wouldn't necessarily call that appetizing."

"Can you try to taste something without focusing on each individual molecule?"

"I guess I can try."

Abigail looked to the stack of pancakes and according to her vessel's memories, they were quite appetizing. She picked up the syrup dispenser after watching Danny use it to pour some on her pancakes then picked up the fork, after observing that her companions were using the utensil to eat, and cut into the pancakes with it.

"Ignore the molecules, ignore the molecules, ignore the…" She slipped the fork into her mouth and pulled the food off the utensil. She slowly started chewing, doing her best to ignore her greater senses and experience the food as her vessel would experience it.

She looked wide eyed to the pair and softly moaned. She started chewing a little faster to get it down her throat then happily commented, "This is good." She cut into the pancakes with the fork to get her some more and Jessica couldn't help but think that she was looking at a little girl enjoying a treat for the first time.

Jessica laughed, "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

Danny frowned at the sight, not liking it one bit that Jessica was growing attached to the bound angel as if she was a potential friend instead of something that would attempt to kill her the first chance she got.

Abigail giggled between bites of her pancake as she was practically inhaling the food, "I should start eating more often."

The dirty blonde laughed and raised a hand to rest on one of Abigail's wrists, "Slow down, slow down. You don't want to choke."

The redhead finished chewing the fluffy breakfast in her mouth and answered, "I can't choke. I don't have to breathe."

"Then slow down so you can enjoy your food."

"Okay," she answered, trusting the mortal's judgment on eating.

After slowing down and trying to savor the flavor of the food, she asked the pair, "How did you two meet?"

The pair of hunters looked back to her with a shared curious expression.

Abigail turned a confused expression back and forth. "Isn't that what people do? Share in little talk?"

Danny half smirked. "Small talk, it's called small talk."

Jessica picked up, "Danny, ah… he found me after my father died—dragged to Hell. He found out what happened and exp—"

The handsome teenager interrupted, "Should you be telling her this?"

The redhead looked confused, wondering how the pair meeting could be such a secret and potentially upsetting for the teenager.

"It's not like it's that big a secret to her now. We've already done what we wanted to do."

"Yes, but… you could be telling secrets of _others_."

Jessica took a second in trying to understand what he meant then a dawn of realization appeared on her face. "Oh…" She looked back to Abigail and continued with a more cautious tone, "As I was saying, Danny found me and explained everything about what most likely happened to my father and a way to try to save him even if I couldn't bring him back?"

The redhead eyed the taller girl, sensing that she was hiding an awful lot from her, but the words she was saying were truthful. She decided to clarify, "He knew this because of what he is?"

Jessica stiffened in her seat and her lightly tanned face seemed to drain of color.

The reaper continued, "Oh, I know what he is the moment I saw him. I was curious whether you knew or not, but I guess that answers that question. I'm just curious as to why he's helping you."

The hunters shared quick looks with one another before Jessica confidently answered, "He's my friend."

Abigail gave the pair a vacant expression and the hunters knew she was assessing them.

Danny took a swig from his sweet tea then cleared his throat before bringing up, "We haven't talked about this, but when we get to the portal, are they going to let you use it?"

"They should. I'm a reaper delivering a soul to Heaven. They can't turn me down."

"Are you sure with everything you told us with what's happened up there?"

Abigail frowned at the prospect that they would turn her down. Those running Heaven didn't seem to have much sense left and hadn't shown any real desire to get the gates open.

The long haired young man suggested, "We could us a sigil banishment to get rid of them."

The young vessel angel looked to Danny in mild shock. "You know about those?"

He smirked and confidently answered, "We actually know a lot about a lot of stuff."

Abigail narrowed her gaze on him, trying to figure out why he was being so cryptic.

Danny dismissively responded, "Maybe you should just finish your breakfast?"

The reaper countered fiercely, but in the same way a small little pup would against a bigger dog, "Just because my vessel is young doesn't mean I am young. I've been around since the first creatures on this planet died, so I don't appreciate you talking to me as a child."

Jessica raised a hand to cut off any further argument, "Enough. Would you two stop bickering like children?"

The redhead quickly answered, "I'm getting sick of him looking at me like I'm some diseased abomination when he's the—"

"Please don't finish what you're thinking," Jessica asked in a near pleading voice.

Abigail held her tongue, but still frowned and started back to finishing her breakfast.

Jessica looked to Danny and stated as she didn't want any argument from him, "And you stop being so hostile towards her. She's done nothing wrong. I have for doing this to her."

The hunter turned back to her own breakfast and focused on it, leaving them to exchange troubling glances as if they had been scolded children to eat the rest of the meal in silence.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this update. Just click next for the next update. Thanks, OneHorseShay.


	5. Chapter 4

This is the second update today, so make sure you catch Chapter 3.

Rating: T Language, Violence

* * *

Chapter 4

Foreclosed House  
Bloomington, Indiana

After another ten hours or so of driving, Danny pulled the SUV into the driveway then pulled forward to drive around the back of the house to try to hide their presence.

Jessica had insisted that they keep going and that she could take over driving having slept off and on through most of the afternoon and early evening, but Danny put his foot down that she needed a good night sleep and not just the broken naps she had in the back of an SUV. While they had made a pit stop for her to use a restroom, he found a wi-fi hotspot and looked up recently foreclosed homes.

The teenager's plan was for them to take up residence in one of the homes for the night. They would be breaking and entering with the intent to squat, but he didn't trust staying in any motel which couldn't really be defended all that well.

Abigail disappeared and a few moments later opened the backdoor for them and the pair of hunters entered, finally turning on their flashlights to see where they were going in the house. Danny locked the door behind them and pulled out a spray can out of the bag on his shoulder. He shook it up and started spraying a symbol on the door.

After Danny finished, he immediately walked passed the girls and headed for the front of the house, trying to avoid the beams of their flashlights shinning out the windows. The precaution wasn't needed as all the blinds were down and no one could see into the house. He reached the front door and sprayed another symbol as the others explored the house. He soon joined them in exploring the house and headed upstairs. He easily found the master bedroom and half-smirked with seeing that the king size bed was still in place with bedding still on it.

Jessica walked up behind him and looked around his right shoulder. She beamed a smile and commented, "Oh, this is nice."

Danny grinned and motioned towards the bed. "Yep and the bed is yours."

"You're giving me the master bedroom?"

"Why not?"

Jessica raised a questioning eyebrow.

Danny brushed some of his long hair behind his ear and answered with a sigh, "You need your sleep and that's the best bed in the house. I'm taking the couch so I can cover the first floor just in case we are being tracked or someone comes investigating us."

She debated in her head his point. She was near the brink of exhaustion and the bed looked mighty nice, but she didn't want to ditch out on watch and leave it just to him. She sighed and began, "Danny, I just can't—"

"I'm not arguing with you over this. If you come downstairs, the second you fall asleep, I'm carrying you back up here."

The look in Danny's eyes told her that he was quick serious with his 'threat'. She wanted to argue with him further, but she was just too tired. Without any further argument, she dropped her belongings next to the bed then took a set on the edge of it. She gently bounced on it several times to get a feel for it and was pleasantly surprised by the softness. "Okay…" She looked to Abigail and continued, "…I saw another bedroom downstairs that still had its bed."

Abigail pointed out what she thought was the obvious, "I don't sleep."

Danny smugly pointed out with a grin that would have caused many that saw it the urge to slap it off, "Then I guess you'll be the lookout."

The reaper knotted her brow, confused and a tad annoyed from his expression and tone.

Danny walked past her and started heading back down the first floor.

Abigail followed him with her eyes then looked back to Jessica, putting on a more agreeable expression. "What do people say? Don't let the bedbugs bite?"

"Yes, they say that…" She looked back at the bed and mumbled, "I hope there aren't any."

The redhead looked over the bed and stated, "No, there aren't any bugs."

Jessica questioned with a mildly embarrassed expression, "Good… are you going to be okay downstairs with Danny?"

"As long as he doesn't try to stab me with the blade, I'll be fine. He can't really hurt me any other way."

"He's not going to stab you. I'm sorry about his attitude. He's…"

"Very protective of you. He cares about you a lot."

Jessica shrugged a shoulder. "He's my friend. That's what friends do."

Abigail glanced downward, thinking on her words, but feeling a heavy weight on the equivalent of her heart. "And family… that's what they're supposed to do, but…" She let her statement hang, unsure how to finish it. She glanced back up and saw Jessica's compassionate expression.

"I'm sorry."

The shorter girl took an unnecessary breath then forced a smile. "It's okay. I actually have a few of my brothers and sisters that I'm actually close to…" Her face suddenly became drawn as something dawned on her.

The dirty blonde slightly tilted her head and asked, "What?"

"I haven't checked-in over the last day, they probably started looking for me. We better hurry up and get to the portal. If they find you and I'm still bound… they're not going to be too happy."

Jessica swallowed down the lump of new fear threatening to come up as not only should they expect demons to start looking for them, but a few angels could come after them. "Okay." She stood up and began, "Let's tell Danny and get back—"

"No, you need your sleep. You really do need it. It'll be okay. I'll make sure they won't do anything to you."

The hunter sat back down and reluctantly agreed, "I will. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me."

Abigail cracked a soft smile then answered, "I'll see you in the morning."

Jessica watched the celestial being go until she rounded the corner. She sighed, unsure what to do except get this journey over with as quickly as possible to let Abigail go on her way. She couldn't do that until she had a full night's sleep or Danny could refuse to drive them any further. She got up and set about getting ready for bed the best she could in the dark with a flashlight.

* * *

Abigail made her way downstairs and found the room lit up with a blue electric lantern sitting on one of the end tables. Danny was sitting on the couch with his shotgun resting in the neighboring seat and the spray can resting by his feet with the nuzzle still wet from being used. He was barely nodding his head as he had his earbuds in his ear to listen to some music from his phone.

The reaper stopped in front of him and asked loud enough to be heard over the music, "Why are you so hostile towards me?"

The long haired hunter glanced up at the dark redhead, pulled one earbud out and curtly answered, "Because Jessica might want to think of you as a person, but I'm not going to pretend you're anything but what you are."

"And what is that?"

"A bound reaper that will kill her the moment she releases her."

"Are you so sure about that?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. He returned his gaze on her and answered her in a dismissive tone, "She bound and kidnapped you. We forced you to take her to Hell and bring someone back. You may be acting all kind and sweet to her, but I know deep down you're going to kill her the first chance you get."

"I may not be happy being bound, but I'm not going to kill her when she releases me."

"You expect me to believe that?"

Abigail paused, lost for words in how to respond to such a question.

Seeing that no answer is forthcoming, Danny put the earbud back in his ear then laid back on the couch and propping his feet up at the armrest.

The reaper frowned at being dismissed. She glanced around for a chair and decided to have a seat, having the ability to simply wait without worrying about boredom.

* * *

Outside the house and across the street, Mandy and Brandon stood and examined the up kept house. She wore a detached expression as she studied the two-story home while Brandon looked annoyed.

"Warded of course," Brandon muttered in disgust.

"It doesn't matter. We can tear them down."

"It'll take time and they'll know we're coming. They'll be ready for us."

Mandy smirked and teasingly stated, "Not if we hit them hard enough in one go."

The taller demon knotted his brow while watching his companion turn and walk off. He hated it when she had an idea, but waited to spring it on him.

* * *

Inside the house, Danny was still lying across the couch and letting the music in his ears lull him to sleep. Abigail sat in another chair across the living room playing a game on her vessel's phone. She found it quite addicting when she stumbled across it one time between assignments.

The reaper was distracted when she heard a sizzling sound to her left. She looked over and saw that on the front door that the painted was starting to dissolve. She motioned over and called out, "Danny?"

"What?" he groggily asked as he pulled himself up in a seated position and pulled the earbuds out of his ears.

She pointed to the warding sigil that had nearly disappeared completely before he laid his eyes on it.

Danny eyes nearly bugged out at the sight. He picked up the sawed-off shotgun resting next to the couch and leveled it towards the door. "Go get—"

The door flew open and Mandy and Brandon lazily stepped inside of the house.

Abigail was on her feet in an instant and took a few steps back to stand by Danny's side, subconsciously slipping the phone in her jacket pocket.

The single source of light of the high powered lantern only lit up one side of the intruders, casting shadows to their right side and giving them an eerie appearance. Mandy glanced to the handsome long haired teenager. She studied him for only a few moments before smirking and laughed, "A vampire? You're a vampire? A vampire as a hunter?"

Danny clenched the muscles in his jaw, attempting to calm his nerves as she tried to bait him.

The demon would have played with him a little longer, but her patience with the situation was at her breaking point and she asked, "Where's Jessica Ramirez?"

"She's not here. She's gone."

The attractive demon licked her gloss covered lips and mockingly questioned, "Really? She's just gone? I highly doubt that."

Danny spat out, "I don't give a damn what you think you demonic bitch."

"We know she's here, but if she's not… we'll make you tell us where she is."

"Will you? As you just said, I'm not exactly like other hunters."

"A little tougher than your average ones, I'll grant you that, but… you're just a monster and well… in the grand scheme of things, you're no match for us. We were able to hunt down and capture your kind with no problem a few years ago, even your Alpha. Your legend is a lot of hype."

A low growl came from deep within Danny's throat, ready to challenge that assertion.

"Wait, I'm right here," Jessica called out as she finished making her way down the stairs and towards the living room in a flimsy night short and gym shorts, not having the time to get dressed in hearing the commotion. She did have the presence of mind and time to pick up her sawed-off shotgun from her duffle bag.

Danny hissed out over his shoulder, "Jessica."

Mandy smirked and mockingly greeted the young hunter, "So you're the one that is causing us so much trouble? It's actually kind of a pleasure to meet you. Killing the hellhound was impressive, but breaking into Hell and getting out? That really deserves a round of applause." She gave a gentle applause for several seconds before glancing to Danny. "Even with the company you're keeping." Her grin grew larger as she softly mocked, "You do know what he is don't you?"

Jessica clenched her teeth and hissed, "Yes, but it doesn't matter to me."

The dark headed demon laughed for a number of moments before asking, "It doesn't? It doesn't matter that he could rip your throat out and chug you down faster than a keg at a fraternity."

"How about you eat this?" Danny spat as he raised his sawed-off shotgun and fired.

Brandon stepped in front of the shorter demon and was struck with the rock salt. The muscular demon didn't flinch as it struck the body armor underneath the jacket.

The hunters looked astonished for a split second before Danny aimed the weapon again higher and fired.

The muscular demon flinched to his side to try to dodge the blast, but a bit of the salt caught him in the left side of the face, cutting into his cheek and blinding him in the left eye. He roared and stumbled to his left.

Mandy raised her hand and flicked her wrist towards Jessica, sending the hunter flying and slamming against the wall.

"AHH!" Jessica shouted as her back and back of her head slammed against the wall, knocking the wind out of her. She clenched her eyes and grimaced as she was held against the wall.

"Jessica!"

Brandon fought through the pain to set his good eye on Danny. He held up his hand and a force of will struck the vampire, attempting to do the same.

Danny growled from being struck with the telekinetic attack and was nearly flung back, but planted his feet and resisted with his force of will enhanced from his curse from Eve. He took a step forward then another before he reached inside that primal part of him. He bore his row of sharp teeth then let out a roar before demolishing the force against him and rushing Brandon with the raised the butt of the shotgun.

He crossed the distance in a flash and slammed the butt of the weapon into Brandon's face, breaking his nose and causing the demon to stumble backwards. He turned the shotgun around to use as a club and swung with all his might at the side of Brandon's head.

The weapon connected to the side of Brandon's head and sent him crashing into the floor.

The dark brunette demon glanced over at the fight between the vampire and her companion mere feet from him. She had complete confidence in Brandon to handle the lean muscled vampire, so she looked to the hunter pressed to the wall and mocked, "Ohh, he cares about yo—"

She didn't get to finish as a fist collided with the left side of her face and sent her crumbling to the floor.

Jessica dropped from the wall, falling on her forearms and knees, dropping the shotgun in the process. She took several deep breaths to regain her breath then pushed her body to scramble on her hands and knees to the duffle bag by the couch.

Mandy propped herself up on her elbows and looked up to see Abigail standing over her. The demon grinned and coyly questioned, "Oh, so the reaper wants to help them?"

Abigail hit her in the face with her heel, snapping the girl's head back and nearly breaking her nose.

Mandy pushed through the mental fog growled from the pain and quickly rolled away and back on her feet just in time to miss the reaper trying to stump her down. She raised her fists up, ready to beat down the collector of souls.

"Abigail!" Jessica shouted and tossed the angel blade to the reaper.

Mandy attempted to telekinetically intercept the blade, but Abigail was faster, by turning towards it and catching it with her right hand with the point down as a pick. She completed her turn back towards Mandy and swung out, catching the demon's left arm with the tip of the blade and slicing through the leather sleeve and the flesh of possessed girl. She growled in pain as she felt the sizzling pain of the blade not only slicing through flesh, but spiritually hurting her.

The attractive demon took a few steps back and grabbed her upper arm.

Abigail charged at her with a downward stabbing motion, but Mandy was able to grab her by the wrist before the blade could be imbedded into her face. The taller young woman tried to punch Abigail in the face, but the redhead caught her fist. The two struggled for dominance as Abigail pushed with all her might to stab Mandy in the face, but the two were about the same level in strength and the demon had the slight height advantage.

Just yards away from them closer to the front door, Brandon and Danny were still fighting it out. The shotgun had been discarded on the floor and Danny was full blown in animal rage with baring his teeth and fingernails extended. He slashed out with his nails, catching Brandon by his jugular.

Blood spurted out, but the demon remained unfazed since he couldn't bleed to death. He reached out and was able to grab the leaner 'man' by the right shoulder and headbutted him, causing the vampire stumble backwards several steps. He grabbed the shorter young man by both shoulders this time and picked him up and flung him away. Danny went flying and crashed against the side of an adjacent wall. He left a considerable indentation in the wall before he fell. He groaned on the landing of his side, but quickly pulled himself up on his hands and knees.

The muscular demon charged him, but the vampire was able to gather his wits and swept out with his leg, connecting with the demon's left knee and causing it to buckle and sending him tumbling forward.

Once the demon dropped to his knee, Danny kicked out and smashed his heel into Brandon's face and sending more blood out of his shattered nose and tumbling backwards.

Mandy was losing the struggle with the blade coming closer and closer towards her face with the stinging and burning sensation of her arm, weakened from where the blade had sliced into her. She was going to be stabbed in the face with the tri-edged blade if she didn't do something. She took a gamble and raised her right foot and kicked out, connecting with the heel of her boot against Abigail's lower stomach.

The reaper tumbled backwards, losing her grabs on the demon's right wrist, and back hit the carpeted floor. The blade slipped out of her hand and Mandy saw it roll from Abigail's grasp after regaining her footing. She attempted to dive for it, but Jessica rushed her and collided like a football offensive lineman. The two fell back and started rolled away and started clawing at each other like a catfight between two high school girls fighting over the same guy.

Over just a few feet away, Brandon rolled on top of Danny and throwing punches down like an MMA fighter, hoping to either knock him out, something he wasn't sure was possible, or smash in his face. He wasn't particularly caring of which one happened as long as it got the vampire to stop.

Danny tasted the familiar copper taste in his mouth, but wasn't use to his own. He got his right arm up to deflect the next several blows and while trying to figure out away to get his the heavier and stronger opponent off of him, but it was the glint of silver he saw from the corner of his left eye that was his chance. He reached for the blade, his fingertips brushing against the handle several times as he shifted to block and deflect the blows raining down on him. On his next try, two of his fingers caught the handle and dragged it enough to grip it.

The demon raised is right arm high, intending to smash down with his fist to plow through Danny's defensive blocks and smash his face in, but the vampire swung his arm in a left hook with the blade pointing towards the demon. The blade slipped under his arm and above the stab vest into his armpit until it stopped to the rounded hilt, going far enough to sever the poor meatsuit's spine.

Brandon's jaw dropped in surprise as his eyes sizzled yellowish-orange with his skull shadowing from the blaze of light under the skin for a few tense moments before he rolled off dead and crumbled against an end table.

Mandy rolled on top of Jessica and got one hand around the hunter's throat and began to squeeze, forgetting in the heat of battle that she wanted the girl alive. However, before the demon could do any real damage to the girl, she felt a strong grip on each of her shoulders. She was thrown backwards several feet, landing in the middle of the living room.

The female demon rolled to a stop then crawled back onto her feet and attempted to charge the hunter and reaper, but was stopped by an unseen forced. She blinked in confusion as she tried to step forward, but couldn't move forward. She glanced around, seeing what could have happened until her eyes glanced up. She saw a red painted devil's trap above her head.

The two hunters and reaper paused to gather themselves. Danny looked to Jessica and asked, "Are you alright?"

Jessica rolled a shoulder and rubbed around her neck where Mandy had grabbed her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to be a little sore in the morning." She ran her fingers though her dirty gold locks to make sure she didn't lose a fist full of hair.

Danny walked around her to grab the lantern and throw the duffle bag over his shoulder. He shouted, "Go upstairs and grab your stuff and let's go."

Jessica locked eyes with the demon that showed a furious gaze in her eyes and monetarily froze.

Abigail caught Jessica by the elbow and urged her to move. "We got to go. More might be on the way."

Jessica began, "But—"

Danny cut her off, "It's alright! We can use her for the final trial! Now let's go!"

The lovely hunter finally conceded and walked around the right side of the demon to head back up the stairs.

Mandy gave a murderous gaze at the vampire and hunter as they retreated up the stairs and spat, "This isn't over!"

Abigail warned in a cold tone, "Leave them alone. Don't come after them."

The taller young woman snapped her head around to meet the reapers gaze and dismissively responded, "And what are you going to do about it reaper? You can't kill me with a touch and I don't see you with any blade."

The redhead looked back at her with a frustrated expression. She slowly answered, "Perhaps not, but my brothers and sisters can smite you."

The dark haired demon squared her jaw and defiantly looked back despite the shiver of fear that went through her.

The two non-humans held stares on one another for some indeterminate amount of time it took Danny and Jessica to come back downstairs with her dressed and her belongings.

Mandy turned to catch Jessica's gaze again, flicking her eyes to solid black for a moment.

Jessica froze in place as the primal fear of the creature's existence flaring up, but Danny grabbed Jessica's arm and shouted, "Come on! Forget about her!"

Mandy shouted with an inhuman roar at seeing the hunters flee out the back door, one that put a chill through Jessica and Danny as they disappeared into the night. She powerless stood there and listened seconds later to the engine of their vehicle come to life then the wheels peeling away.

The demon took several deep and ragged breaths, an old habit when she was alive, to calm down. She palmed over her forehead with the butts of her palms then brushed her fingers through her hair while brushing her palms over her crown to the back of her head. She looked to the devil's trap, frustrated that she was trapped inside.

She glanced to her right and saw Brandon's crumbled body—the body that Brandon had possessed. The demon possessing Brandon—he would never tell her his real name—and Brandon were both dead. She felt a dull sense of loss at his passing. She had liked him as much as a demon could truly like someone even if he could be a little crude.

As the trapped demon was momentarily lost in her thoughts of mourning, she heard the fluttering and turned in the limited space of the trap to see Nathaniel, the cherub she had met about twenty-four hours before, standing just inside the doorway of the room.

The angel curiously looked to her. "You?"

Mandy swallowed, any sense of lost for Brandon and frustration for being trapped vanishing with his presence.

Nathaniel flicked his right wrist and opened up his hand for a silver foot long blade appear into existence and slip into his hand. He quietly asked, "Where is my sister?"

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this double update. I will spoil and say that in the next chapter we finally get to meet up with everyone's favorite overcoat wearing angel. Thanks for reading, OneHorseShay


	6. Chapter 5

Hello readers. I appreciate the support and hope you enjoy this chapter.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 5

Mandy swallowed down the fear that was permeating every fiber of her being with the physical reaction of the body she was possessing enhancing the feeling from the deadly gaze in the cherub's eyes.

Nathaniel snapped, clearly having no patience in meeting her a second time within a twenty-four hour period, "I asked you a question demon."

The demon calmed her breathing and answered with a steady voice, "I don't know. You just missed her."

The muscular young man slightly tilted his head to the side and questioned, "Missed her?"

"Yes. She just left with two hunters."

He slowly walked around the hastily drawn devil's trap then stopped over her left shoulder and rhetorically asked, "I assume they're the ones that trapped you and killed your friend?"

Mandy subconsciously glanced to Brandon's deceased body and regretfully uttered, "Yes."

"Why were you looking for my sister? You thought you'd pick an angel at random to try to screw over for me stopping your deal?"

She glanced over her shoulder, barely making eye contact with him, and answered, "I didn't know they had a reaper; I wasn't looking for her. I was looking for the hunters."

He finished walking around her to face her and asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "Why? _They_ stopped one of your deals?"

She remained silent, trying to find her courage to face the being in front of her. It was hard to remain confident and strong when trapped in a space no larger than a small rug and staring down someone that could end you with a mere touch of his hand on you or stab you with a blade that could snuff you out with ease.

Nathaniel placed the tip of the blade under her chin to lift her face to meet his eyes. "Why were you after them?"

The fair skin demon tightened her jaw for a second then answered, "They killed my king's hellhound and I was to bring them to him so that he could punish them. I didn't know about the reaper until we arrived. I wasn't trying to get around our agreement. I honor mine."

The cherub raised a curious eyebrow at the notion that the demon considered his threat an agreement between them. In retrospect, it wasn't that much of a stretch. Each had agreed to do something for the other in exchange. He sat that notion aside for the moment. "They killed a hellhound?" he questioned almost rhetorically and lowered the blade. He thought on it for a second of what it meant then questioned, "They stopped you from collecting someone's soul?"

"Delayed us… only delayed us, but my king still wants the ones that killed his hound, so I have to bring them to him and now… it looks like your reaper helped them snatch a soul from Hell to take to Heaven. They can't get away with that. Hell already put them on the most wanted list."

"So after you collected the soul anyway, they grabbed my sister so they could snatch the person back?"

"No, it was a different person. I don't know who, just that they did it… and your sister helped them." She wasn't being completely forthright, but didn't see any need for that little detail about Jessica's father.

"Not voluntarily," he was quick to correct with a stern voice.

Mandy snorted out dismissively, "Please, since you harp players were thrown out of Heaven, plenty of reapers are going freelance."

Nathaniel held his tongue for a moment as he had heard the same thing. He had heard that when Bartholomew was still alive that he had used them as supernatural bloodhounds. He retorted with a low tone, "Maybe so, but not her."

Mandy narrowed her gaze and turned a corner up her mouth up in a softly wicked smile. "If that's the case, we're after the same thing: these hunters."

The angel raised a questioning eyebrow.

The demon continued feeling a sense of power as she could turn the situation to her advantage, "If you're right and she didn't help them voluntarily then they used some kind of spirit bounding spell, so you're going to have to deal with them… Have you ever heard the term 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

The angel remained quiet, waiting for her to continue.

She sweetly smiled and asked, "Why don't we make a deal?"

The muscles around Nathaniel's eyes tightened and he snapped dismissively, "A deal? I don't have a soul."

"Not that kind of deal. You let me out and we can track these hunters down. I know who they are and what they look like. I found them once, I can find them again and you're the muscle to take them down. You get your sister back and I get the hunters. You know they'll get punished for what they did to her and I can make sure the king knows that she didn't voluntarily help them so he won't seek punishment of her. She doesn't need a bull's eye on her back."

"You are seriously suggesting for us to work together?"

Mandy chuckled and slightly mocked, "You're a quick one aren't you diaper boy?"

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes and sharply retorted with raising his blade, "Or… I could just kill you and go on my way and find them myself?"

The dark brunette held up her hands and almost in a panic, seeing she had hit a dangerous nerve with the 'diaper boy' comment and answered, "I've held up my end. You told me to leave Robert alone and I did."

The cherub remained quiet for a few moments, making the tension rise for Mandy until he answered, "I'll hold up my word. I won't kill you."

She sighed in relief while he turned and sheathed his blade from view before starting for the door.

"Wait! Are you going to let me out?"

The handsome angel looked over his shoulder at the devil's trap and contemplated his options. He did say he wouldn't kill her, but nothing about letting her out.

Mandy took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. She lowered her voice to the point of near pleading, "Please let me out. They said they were coming back and said something about using me. I don't want to know what they have in store for me."

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow as he turned back around to face her. "If they're coming back, I could just wait for them."

The demon softly bit her tongue. He had a point, a very good point. He could just kick back and wait for them to return and tear them apart if he chose, them having an angel blade or not. She couldn't afford just to stay here in the meantime then be punished for not getting them in case he decided to let them go through being merciful (a trait that wasn't as common to angels as one was left to believe) or just to spite her. No, she wasn't going to lose out. Thinking quickly, she suggested, "And what could they force her to do in the meantime? If you care about your sister, do you want them to force her to do stuff? Violate her in such a manner? Haven't they already done that making her take them to Hell and bring someone back? That's against her very nature."

The dark haired angel narrowed his gaze on her and to her best guess, was contemplating her words.

"I found her once, I can find her again and since you told me about their little trip to Hell, it's not hard to guess where they are going, but…"

"But?" she questioned, as her last bit of hope hung on the word.

"You have a point about making sure Crowley understands that my sister didn't voluntarily help them. She doesn't need a horde of demons or those freelance reapers nipping at her heels for the rest of time."

He walked back to her and stopped at the other side of the perimeter of the devil's trap.

"I'll let you out and we go together. We go with your idea: I free my sister and you get the hunters and the credit for Crowley, but you make sure he understands that she wasn't voluntarily involved."

Mandy wickedly smiled and stated in a soft, seductive manner, "We both get what we want… deal."

Nathaniel guardedly eyed the demon for several more seconds, perhaps debating if he really wanted to make the deal.

"What? You want a kiss to seal the deal?" she sarcastically questioned with a smirk and a slight shift of her hips to the right and rest a hand on her left hip.

The cherub frowned for a moment before motioning his right hand and the devil's trap disappeared.

Mandy took a sigh of relief then restored her confident persona and asked, "Okay, you said you know where they're going, so where are we heading?"

"We're heading them off before they reach Heaven."

The lovely demon slightly squinted. "What do you mean?"

"If they are taking the soul the got from Hell to Heaven then they need to go the way the angels with their clipped wings get in and out. Human souls are still locked out of Heaven."

"And you know that way?"

"Yes, but… a few might not like me showing up, especially with you in tow."

She saw a chink and took advantage of it. "Oh? They don't like you upstairs?"

"It's no secret that it's still pretty chaotic with the angels."

He tilted his head to the side and looked off to nowhere in particular.

The demon directed a curious expression to him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling to one of my brothers. They'll be more receptive hearing from him."

"Ah, your angel radio."

"Yes, our radio, now shhh, I'm trying to get a hold of him."

Mandy crossed her arms under her chest, not appreciating being hushed like a child. She patiently waited for what seemed a minute until he finally spoke, "Okay, it's time to go."

"Where?"

"Don't worry, I'll take you, but first…"

He walked over to Brandon and knelt to him and placed his fingertips Brandon's forehead. A soft hum emanated at the point of contact of his fingers on the forehead then the well-built young man sucked in a deep breath and rapidly blinked.

He frantically looked around and asked, "What? What happened?"

Nathaniel patiently waited for him to calm down before attempting to explain, but the formally possessed young man looked to Mandy and his memories started flooding him. He started scooting away and shouted, "Get away from me you demo—"

The young man didn't finish as Nathaniel placed his hand on his forehead and he disappeared.

Mandy looked wide eyed and asked, "What did you do to him?"

"I sent him home," he answered as he stood up. "I can't bring your… companion back, but he shouldn't have to suffer any more than he already has. He shouldn't wander in the veil."

He offered his left hand to her, but she looked at it with hesitation then back up to meet his eyes. He patiently smiled and attempted to reassure her, "I'm not going to smite you."

She timidly reached out with her hand and gently grasped his hand. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding the strong hand and realized she wasn't dead.

He smirked and a flutter later, the pair was gone.

I-70 West

Jessica was flooring the gas peddle of SUV to cause it to nearly fly down the interstate. She looked over her shoulder and desperately asked, "Are you okay?"

Danny glanced over his extremities and chest to see how badly he was hurt. The bruises and cuts inside his mouth from the demon had already knitted back up, so it appeared that he was fine. "Yeah, I'm fine. Everything just healed up fine. He was a tough SOB though."

Jessica glanced over her shoulder and asked their passenger, "Abigail, are you alright?"

The reaper met the hunter's eyes, shocked once again by the girl's concern for her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Jessica regretfully stated, "They're on our trail now. We got to get my dad to Heaven and onto the last trial before they catch up with us."

Danny pulled himself up and rested his forearms on the inner side of headrests. "Yeah, but we may have lucked out though."

"How?"

"The third trial. We needed a demon and we have one back there. We send your father back to Heaven then come back here and get her."

Abigail sat up to partially push Danny out of the way and asked, "Trial? What trial?"

Jessica shook her head and muttered, "Nothing, nothing at all."

Abigail wanted to question her further, but thought better of it.

Danny calmed his nerves and asked, "Okay, slow down and let me drive."

"You've been driving all day. You need a break."

"I'm a vampire remember? I'm fine and I have night vision. You're the one that needs all the rest you can get. Now pull over and let me drive."

She mentally debated his point for several seconds and still wanted to argue with him, but his points were too strong and he would probably argue with her until he got his way. She mentally sighed, _'Teenage boys'._ She glanced over towards the breakdown lane to see that it was free and after a quick glance in the rearview mirror, she pulled off to the side of the road.

Somewhere in Kansas

A flutter later, the angel and demon were standing in a run down hotel room with a single occupant with his back turned to them. Mandy glanced around, taking in the room that had one too many occupants without a thorough cleaning. She took a whiff and could small the faint remnants human bodily fluids and she felt slightly nausea. She muttered in mild disgust, "You'd think angels would hold up in better places."

Castiel, the angel that helped derail the Apocalypse, turned to his expected guests, but quickly narrowed his gaze at the pair and questioned with low and dangerous tone, "Consorting with demons Nathaniel?"

Mandy instinctively took a step and nudged to her left to partially stand behind Nathaniel's right shoulder.

Nathaniel slightly tilted his head to the side and answered plainly, "I heard you had a fling with one brother…"

Mandy's twinge of fear was replaced with annoyance and she crossed her arms under her chest and raised an eyebrow, responding in a sharp tone that showed her annoyance at the description, "I'm a fling?"

The cupid glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "I wasn't considering you one, just pointing out he wasn't in any place to judge me." He looked to the higher order angel and continued, "We're… 'together' because we're looking for the same people and I didn't feel it was necessary to smite her."

"Oh, that makes me feel better," she muttered with a roll of her eyes.

Nathaniel licked his lips and half-joked with a charming smile, "I could have left you in that devil's trap."

The attractive demon frowned at him, ignoring the smile that touched a nerve. She could admit he was wearing an attractive body.

The overcoat wearing angel knotted his brow and asked to draw their attention back to why they were there, "Same people?"

"A pair of hunters. They killed a hellhound and she's tracking them down for Crowley."

Castiel gave his fellow angel a skeptical look and a penetrating one to the demon. "Hunters… and how is this any of your concern?"

"I heard it on the radio that one of our sisters went missing—a reaper—and I decided to go looking for her. I found out that she was with—against her will—the hunters she's looking for, so… we have parallel goals. We find them, she gets what she wants and I find our sister."

"So you made a deal with a demon?"

"I like to think of it as a temporary alliance where we mutually benefit."

Castiel looked skeptical, but remained silent on the point and pursued another line of thought, "Why would they bind a reaper? How do you know she's not voluntarily with them or made some deal with them?"

"What reaper do you know would go against the natural order and help someone pull someone else out of Hell?"

Castiel was about to point out a number of them, vividly recalling April, but was more concerned with putting the pieces together of a hellhound's death and a soul escaping Hell.

Nathaniel glanced away for a second and admitted, "Okay, I heard a few stated going freelance, but not Abigail. She takes her duty quite seriously. She wouldn't go freelance."

The other angel remained quiet and quite stoic for several seconds as he put the fact of a dead hellhound and a retrieved soul from Hell together and was coming to a damning conclusion. He asking almost rhetorically, "These hunters and a reaper retrieved someone from Hell?"

Mandy sarcastically answered, "Yeah. They snuck inside and snatched him. Brandon…" She paused for a moment, feeling a twinge of loss, and then continued, "Brandon and I tracked them down. That reaper has a mean right hook." She subconsciously cupped her jaw and rubbed it.

Castiel slightly squinted and questioned, "Brandon?"

"Her companion. They were able to kill him and leave before I found her trapped in a devil's trap." He looked to her and asked, "How were they able to kill him?"

"They had one of your blades and stuck him with it between the gap in his body armor." She slightly turned to show them her upper left arm and the slash of her sleeve. "The reaper was able to slash at me with it."

The younger vessel angel glanced to the demon and asked, "How did they get one of those?"

"With how many of you've died over the last few years, they're kind of lying around. I've been hoping to grab one of them myself."

The angels simultaneously glared at her, causing her to slightly real back. "Sorry."

The seraph running on borrowed grace turned to the cherub and asked, "You said you needed my help?"

"Yes, Mandy said they were going to take the soul they… stole from Hell and take it to Heaven and there is only one way they can do that since the reapers can't get in. We have about a good ten hour head start on them."

The seraph's conclusion was confirmed enough for his satisfaction, but he remained quiet a few seconds too long to cause Nathaniel to ask, "Why does it look like you know something?"

Castiel shook his head and answered with a broken voice, "No, nothing. It's baffling why they would kill a hellhound then make a raid into Hell to rescue a soul. Killing the hellhound implies that they stopped a soul from being collected."

Mandy pointed out with a knowing smile, "You're a very bad liar."

The stoic angel turned a cold glare to the demon.

The dark brunette took another tentative step to her side to get more of Nathaniel between herself and the annoyed angel.

The cherub cracked half a smile and remarked, "She's right brother; you're a poor liar. What are you thinking?"

Castiel hesitated, darting his eyes back and forth between the unlikely pair, then answered, "It is something that I prefer not to discuss in front of her."

Mandy directed annoyed yet futile glance to the angels.

Nathaniel accepted the explanation without a second thought, "Okay, you can tell me later. Right now we need to get to the portal."

Castiel gave him an almost accusing glance.

"I didn't tell her where and you can always move it."

"If you know where they are going to be, what do you need from me? Why do you need her?"

"I need you to talk to Hannah."

Castiel slightly squinted. "Hannah? Why?"

"Because she's basically the one everyone is following now and she'll listen to you since she's not… so incline to listen to anything I have to say to her."

"Why is that?"

"I told her to ah…"

Mandy slightly nudged him and asked, clearly curious to the answer, "What?"

"I told her to kiss my feathery ass."

Mandy raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Wow, that's pretty ballsy diaper boy."

Nathaniel gave her another look on how he didn't appreciate he nickname.

Castiel was astonished by the news and questioned, "Why did you tell her to do such a thing?"

"After they got back to Heaven and started to organize again, they decided that everyone on Earth should come back. She and some of her followers came down to Earth to get them to come back, whether they wanted to or not. I heard she murdered a few of the ones that said no."

Castiel held his tongue on the fact that she had join Hannah for a while to persuade their siblings to come back to Heaven and that he was with her and actually killed one of them. "I heard, go on."

Nathaniel studied his brother for a few moments, of course unable to read his mind as angels could shield it from each other, but he had honed his skills in the millennium on Earth and watching humans to pick up body language. "Well, she had the bright idea that somehow should apply to us cherubs. I told her I wasn't going back just because she called. I had a job to do set out by Father and I was going to do it and she and the others couldn't counterman it. The other cherubs agreed and we told her to collectively shove it and let us do our jobs. She backed down, but we could tell she wasn't exactly happy with us, so you can see why she wouldn't necessarily like to hear from me."

"Understandable…"

Nathaniel cocked his head to the side and asked in clarification, "Which one of us?"

Castiel's expression looked torn, his loyalty for Hannah on one side and the cherub's point. "You and the others, God meant for you to stay on Earth most of the time to carry out your duty. Hannah shouldn't have told you any differently. So, what do you want me to talk to her about?"

"I want you to make it clear to her that Abigail isn't doing this voluntarily, so when they show up and try to get in somehow, they don't try to kill her. Hannah is pretty damn trigger happy as the human's would say."

Castiel looked regretful, but he nodded and answered, "I understand, but what about her?"

"Since Hell has a bounty on their head including Abigail, she's the one that is going to take the hunters and vouch for Abigail to Crowley to get her name off Hell's most wanted."

The seraph frowned and forcefully pointed out, "You know what they'll do to them if you let her have them."

"What they deserve for kidnapping our sister and making her do their bidding? Yes, justice."

"That's not justice. Not what they'll do to them."

"Then why did our Father create Hell? All souls do not go to Heaven and nor should they. I've seen the best in humanity since the Garden and I've seen the worst and the worst do not belong up there."

"It's not your place to judge and deciding."

"And I'm not deciding for humanity. I don't have the arrogance as you did when you became God, but I can clearly see the ones that deserve it. They still go up and down—or trying to go up by someone's decision… Father's I'm assuming even if He's not around just like it has always been."

Castiel didn't look convinced, so Nathaniel took an unnecessary breath and pointed out, "Look, you can afford to be on the bad side of the King of Hell. Nothing will happen to you; God will just bring you back _again_, but what about the rest of us? You think Abigail should have to watch over her shoulder for some other demon to put a blade in it to try to get in the good graces with their king?"

The older vessel wearing angel squared his jaw and pointed out, "She's a demon. She's just going to double-cross you."

Mandy looked offended with the accusation and snapped, "I keep my deals. I don't weasel out of them or screw over the person I'm making them with. I made an agreement with him and I intend to hold up my end of it."

Nathaniel point out another reason, "And if she doesn't, I'll be in the exact same position I'd be in if she wasn't here at all."

Castiel still looked skeptical and looked back and forth between them for several seconds before relenting, "Fine, I'll talk with Hannah."

The cherub motioned with a hand. "Then let's go."

"Not her. She can't come with us."

"Why?"

"You know why."

Mandy held up her right pointer finger and snapped, "Hey, you're not cutting me out of the loop—"

Castiel glared at her again, causing the demon to slightly cower.

Nathaniel held up a hand towards Castiel and glanced over his shoulder. "It's okay."

The cherub glanced to the floor then met his former commander's eyes to remark, "I understand your concerns Castiel, but she's part of the plan and I can't cut her out for Abigail's sake. I just can't leave her."

"Yes you can. You can put her in a devil's trap and come back for her if you're that intent on keeping your deal with her."

Mandy took a step back from the pair of angels and subtly moved her hand towards the inside of her jacket. She knew her knife would be a useless gesture against them, but she was the defiant sort. "You're not putting me into any devil's trap. You'll probably just smite me for the sport."

Nathaniel raised his right and attempted to calm her, "Hey, we're not going to do that. We made a deal and we're both going to keep it." He looked to his brother and stated, "I'll figure something out. Why don't you go ahead and talk to Hannah if you're willing to help me and you get back with me?"

In a blink of an eye, Nathaniel was behind Mandy then they were gone before Castiel could give them an answer.

Castiel glanced up at the ceiling and let a frustrated breath out.

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Author's Note: We all know those deal with the devil never work out right, but we finally got to see our favorite overcoat wearing angel. Hope you have a nice weekend.


	7. Chapter 6

Hey, it's been a while since I've updated this story, so I hope you enjoy these updates.

Twilight Warrior 627: The main cast is finally coming into the story and plays a critical role. This Nathaniel is not the same one that was serving Naomi. I conceived of the character and his name before that one was introduced.

Guest: Thank you.

Rating: T Language

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Chapter 6

Somewhere in Kansas

In a blink of an eye, the angel and demon appeared in front of a small roadside diner. There were only a handful of cars in the darkened parking lot with only the occasional car passing the establishment on the road.

Mandy stepped away from the angel and momentarily disoriented from her change in location. "Whoa, where are we?"

"We're still in Kansas, but far enough away where Castiel just can't catch up to us anytime soon. He'll have to get here the old fashion way."

"Why?"

"For your benefit. It doesn't help either of us if you're nervous and he was making you nervous."

She slightly nodded to the side and sourly remarked, "Thanks, I guess."

He answered casually with a faint smile, "You're welcome… I guess."

The demon arched an eyebrow and licked her lips, slightly amused that he could have a sense of humor instead of just having a stick up his ass as she assumed about other angels.

Mandy took another few moments to assess their surroundings then asked while examining the slightly worn establishment, "What are we doing here? Is this the way to Heaven?"

Nathaniel cracked a grin and answered in a teasing voice, "No, it's just a diner."

"Then why are we here?"

"I find the act of eating clears the mind when I need to think and it's dinner time—very late dinner, so…"

He walked to the entrance of the diner and opened the door for her to enter first.

She passed him a curious gaze as she entered the establishment, not figuring that he would have the knowledge of being a gentleman.

Nathaniel followed her inside and a lovely older woman was standing behind the counter called out, "Evening, I'll be right with you, but we'll be closing soon."

Nathaniel smiled to the waitress and answered, "Thank you. Take your time and we won't keep you from closing up." He led Mandy to one of the booths lining the front side of the establishment and had a seat.

The demon reached for the small menu stuffed inside the tray for the ketchup, mustard and salt and pepper. She pulled it out and glanced over it, sparing a second to remark, "You sure know how to treat a girl?"

The cupid paused for a moment to figure out what she meant by the statement then realized what she was implying. "If I was going to take a lady on a date, then I would take her on a date, but this isn't a date and I don't even know if you're lady."

She slightly leaned back in her seat and made a face towards him that indicated that she was offended by his statement.

"I mean, are you actually a woman and not just possessing one?"

"Oh, yes, I'm a woman… I was a woman when I was alive." She defiantly added, "Would you even know how to go on a date?"

"I'm a cupid. I do understand the mating rituals of every culture in the universe. I would have to know what culture you're from however. You speaking English does narrow the field, but that is still a large swath of local customs and I don't know what time period you lived. Would I use Victorian era manners or more modern stuff where intent is to… how would the humans say, 'hump and dump'?"

Mandy smirked and leaned back in her seat. "I'm a girl that likes to be swoon and I don't give it up on the first date… unless I'm in the mood and I dump the guy when I'm finished."

Nathaniel cocked his head to the side and answered in a deadpanned manner, "You shouldn't give it up at all since you're using someone else's body and thus, participating in a rape then again, you're not much worried about consent when you're possessing her."

The demon glared at him and if he was human, perhaps had set him on fire.

The waitress approached the table with pad in hand and asked before Mandy could retort, "What can I get you?"

Nathaniel smiled to the woman and answered, "I'll take a burger, hold everything with a side of fries. Do you have any sweet tea this evening?"

"Yes."

"I'll take that too."

The waitress looked to Mandy and asked, "What would you like dear?"

Mandy took several deep breaths calm and present a pleasant disposition. "I'll take what he's having, but I'll have Pepsi instead."

The waitress saw the tension in the young woman's eyes, but refrained from commenting on it and politely answered, "Okay, I'll be right back."

The unlikely partners fell into an awkward silence, neither sure if either should say anything. Neither demon nor angel had ever simply sat across from one another of their kind at a table and weren't sure how to interact other than fleeing or trying to kill the other.

Nathaniel decided to be the first to speak and comment, "I'm sorry about your friend."

"My friend?"

"Your fellow demon. I don't know what kind of companionship your kind forms with one another, but I thought I'd at least give my condolences."

"Why? He's just another dead demon. Why should you care? Isn't the world better off without him?"

The angel took a breath then answered, "Perhaps it is better off with one less creature trying to torment humanity, but that doesn't mean you didn't care about him in whatever capacity demons still have to feel other than all the negative emotions of humanity. You were all human once and precious… even the vilest of your kind. It's nothing to really rejoice about."

"Well don't you sound like a sentimental fool?"

Nathaniel smiled, completely confident in the words he just spoke, and replied, "It doesn't make what I said any less true."

Mandy stared back at him, unsure what to make of the celestial creature. She eventually muttered, "Thanks." She idly looked down at the booth tabletop, apparently lost in thought and he decided to remain quiet and let her have her moment of contemplation.

The dark brunette demon took a breath and looked up, apparently refocusing and asking, "So what did you need to think about?"

Nathaniel took a breath and answered, "Castiel's right. I can't really take you to the location of the portal, but I'm not going to just stick you in a devil's trap or back out of our deal, so I'm kind of stuck."

"That's very considerate of you, but why are you afraid of taking me?" She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table, pushing up her 'meatsuit's' assets up in a habit forming manner with some of her cliental and asking with a seductive tone, "Do you think I'd go running back to Crowley with the location?"

"If you hand the location of a way into Heaven to Crowley, I think he'll forget about one Hellhound and one soul for leading the way to successfully enter Heaven. Would I be misjudging you to pull such a thing?"

Mandy's seductive manner dropped in an instance and turned into one showing her pleasure at the idea, but quickly turned again into a thoughtful, perhaps longing manner as she finished, "It would be very tempted. Tell him then launch an attack to get inside and take over… to be in Heaven… to be reunited with…" She trailed off, getting lost in thought.

Nathaniel gave her a sympathetic glance, remembering that she once was human, one of God's precious creations before Hell stripped her of most, if not all of her humanity. He could tell from the expression on her face and body language that she was thinking of someone she once knew currently in Heaven. It was insightful to the demon psyche to know that even they could long for those from whom they were separated.

She took a quick breath and asked, attempting to refocus on something else, "So that was the famous Castiel?"

He mentally shifted to the new subject and answered, "Yes."

"How do you know him? Personally I mean."

The waitress returned to the booth with their drinks and dinner.

The angel smiled up to the short haired woman. "Thank you." Nathaniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. He pulled out a few bills and handed it to the woman and explained, "I don't want to forget about your tip."

The portly woman took the bills and smiled her appreciation, "Thank you."

The dark haired demon raised a curious eyebrow at the sight.

Nathaniel caught her gaze as the waitress walked away and asked, "What?"

"You have money to pay?"

"Don't you have money? I assume you have to interact in the world without drawing attention to yourself."

"No, I mean how did you get it?"

Nathaniel licked his lips and softly grinned. "Let's just say I have a nice little life setup here on Earth so I can do my job without standing out."

Mandy cocked an eyebrow, surprised with the tidbit of information. She held a guarded smile and took a sip from her drink, enjoying the taste of the soft drink on her tongue.

Nathaniel pulled the top bun off his hamburger then grabbed the ketchup to put on his patty as he answered, "Back to your original question, I know Castiel from when I joined his side against Raphael after Lucifer and Michael were locked in the cage in Hell. Raphael wanted to get them out and started the Apocalypse all over again, but Castiel didn't. He gathered us that didn't want to see that happen and I was one of them that joined."

"So a little cupid decided to fight?"

He turned a cold glare to her, one that sent a slight shiver through her. He certainly wasn't meeting any of her expectations of one. He sat the ketchup down then replaced the bun on his hamburger. "Yes. I think most joined him because they saw him as God's new favorite. He wasn't just brought back from the dead after Lucifer turned him into finger-paint, but was raised up to a Seraph. They thought they should listen to him…"

"You didn't?"

He took a bite from his burger and chewed for a few seconds before he was able to answer, "No, I saw it as a confirmation of what I knew was true in my heart… the equivalent of my heart. Michael and Raphael wanted to create paradise on Earth… but on the bones of perhaps billions of people when Michael and Lucifer would scorch half the planet in their fight. It didn't matter to Michael or Raphael that would happen—and that was assuming that Michael beat Lucifer. It was wrong and it needed to be stopped, so I got my chance to make a difference and I took it by following him. I wasn't swept up in the cult of personality… he doesn't actually have much of one once you get to know him."

"Well aren't you all noble?"

He directed a guarded gaze, debating exactly how to respond to her question.

She followed up, "You actually care about them? Humans I mean."

"I've been Earth for a very long time. You heard me back with Castiel. I've seen the best and worst of them and I still think they are precious and worthy of existence. They are a fellow creation of my Father and should be given that respect. They shouldn't die because of Michael and Lucifer's pissing contest and if that is the cost for paradise then it's just too damn high."

Mandy nodded along and lazily remarked, "When you put it that way, it really wouldn't have mattered if Lucifer won."

"No it wouldn't. Humanity would have been wiped out and we know what would have happened to you and your kind—the real story, not that nonsense that my brother was feeding you."

"I know the truth. He was going to exterminate. Hell, you would have been safe and didn't have to lift a finger. He hates our kind probably more than you do."

"I don't hate your kind. I pity you."

She slightly leaned her head to the right, slumped back in her seat and sarcastically retorted, "You certainly fooled me back at the crossroads and when I was in that devil's trap."

"I was intimidating you to leave Robert alone. You're already damned; you shouldn't drag him down with you."

"It's a living," she lazily remarked with a shrug of her shoulder between sips of her drink.

He snorted out dismissively before munching down a French fry, "Some living."

"Is that a joke diaper boy?"

He gave her that annoyed look again and it brought a teasing smile to her lips. He sighed, "I do have a sense of humor. I'm not a robot like it seems the rest of my siblings seem at times. I guess it would be the life experience on Earth for the millenniums."

She held her tongue for brief period, unsure how to respond to a being that counted his age in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years. She put on a confident expression that she only half felt and answered, "I wouldn't know. You're the first angel I've ever met. It benefits our health to stay away from your kind."

"It does, doesn't? Most of my siblings see you as abominations or more politely 'unclean' and have no problem smiting you on the spot."

"Then I'm glad I'm with someone more… 'enlightened'."

"And someone that finds you more valuable alive than sent to oblivion."

"That too," she sarcastically answered with a near loathing expression.

The two focused on their meal for the next few minutes in silence, each lost in his or her own thought.

Mandy noticed that the angel seemed natural at eating, something she wouldn't expect from a creature that doesn't have to eat. She finished a morsel of burger, wiping of the corner of her mouth then remarked, "I didn't know angels liked to eat."

"My vessel likes this food, so that's why I ordered it. He gets a meal he enjoys and I get the peace to think."

"So you care about what happens to your meatsuit?"

Nathaniel sharply corrected, "Vessel, he's my vessel. Unlike you, I have respect for the one I inhabit and I have his permission. I told him the truth and he said yes. I didn't lie to him or trick him and I certainly didn't force my way inside."

Mandy narrowed her gaze on him and snapped, "She's not complaining. When I found her, she was emotionally dead and teetering on suicide. In a way, I saved her."

Nathaniel had his turn to be surprised and questioned with a laugh, "You saved her?"

"Yes, I saved her." Mandy looked to her food and randomly picked at a fry. "Last spring she went on a day hike with her friends and boyfriend… but instead an enjoyable experience, she watched her boyfriend and closest friends get eaten and tore to shreds one by one by something that was a cross between a wendigo and a werewolf. She was the only one that survived and barely at that. She was just a few weeks pregnant at the time… she didn't even get a chance to tell her boyfriend, but she lost baby during the whole ordeal."

The lovely demon took a deep breath, seeming to be lost in her thoughts while Nathaniel remained quiet. Unlike a human, he couldn't supernaturally tell if she was being honest or not due to a demon's innate abilities.

"You sound like you're sympathetic to her."

She glanced up and caught off guard for a second meeting his sympathetic eyes. She muttered while looking back down at her plate and idly poking at her food, "I don't take any pleasure in a mother losing her child. I haven't lost that much humanity."

Nathaniel studied her, trying to pick up any hint of why she would feel such a thing since being a demon by definition stripped a person from their humanity. He idly commented, "I guess when we're done with this I'll go hunt it down, stop it from doing that to anyone else in the future."

"Don't bother; I already took care of him and the rest of those damn abominations after I possessed her. I took my time to tear them apart and make sure they suffered."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Mandy looked up and met his eyes, seeing his curiosity. "I don't know."

"Avenge her lost?"

She glared at him, but there wasn't much steel in her eyes. She stuffed a fry into her mouth then idly questioned, "What about your 'vessel'? Does he have some tragic back-story to let you inside?"

The angel debated on how honest he would be with her. He didn't wish to endanger his vessel's family. He decided with a vague description, "I will say he was a little lost when I found him. It seemed all his friends' lives moved on without him. He's a devout young man and when I approached him, he saw it as a way to make a difference, give him some purpose in life again."

Mandy shook her head, smirking. "I find it hard to believe that someone that good looking that you're wearing would have that much trouble making friends and getting on with his life. Unless he's completely socially inapt, he would do find."

"I think you're right. I guess it was just the timing. I hope he can pick up and start anew after I leave him."

"How long are you going to hang on to him?"

"Perhaps another year or so. He would be out of college without me by that point and he can say he was traveling and studying abroad. I try moving on every few years so that I'm not disrupting their lives too much. They sacrifice a lot to be our vessels, we owe it to them not squander or be ungrateful for that gift."

Mandy remained silent and looked as if she was studying him.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow and questioned, "No witty comeback?"

The demon shook her head. "No, I just find it a little funny with our situations: you have someone that willing accepts you yet you want to leave so he can have his life while I'm in someone who's so emotionally broken she doesn't care I'm in here and if I leave, she might end it all as she thinks she has nothing to live for."

Nathaniel took a deep, unnecessary breath and contemplating which one of them was actually doing the best for the ones they inhabited.

Men-of-Letters Bunker  
Lebanon, Kansas

In the extensive occult library of the bunker that once belonged to the ancient group of occult investigators and keepers of such secrets, Castiel was sitting at one of the library tables wrapping up filling in the Winchester brothers of what he had learned from Nathaniel, "…then he left."

Dean pulled his right hand out from the crook of his inner elbow of his crossed arms and held up it up and asked, "Wait, let me get this straight: a pair of hunters have killed a hellhound then bound a reaper to get into Hell to snatch a soul?"

The angel nodded along and agreed, "Yes and apparently succeeded in retrieving the soul. Sound familiar?"

Sam shook his head, trying not to look dumbfounded with the news. "So someone's trying to complete the trials?"

Castiel nodded his head to the side and regretfully answered, "It would appear so."

Dean picked up, "And you know this because an angel—that has teamed up with a demon to find them—told you about it and wanted your help?"

"Yes, he wants to rescue our sister—the bound reaper. He's hoping that I can talk to Hannah and make sure that she understands that the reaper isn't helping them on her own volition. He doesn't trust her to act reasonably, that she'll… just might kill her when she sees her thinking she's gone rogue."

Dean snorted out, "I don't blame him."

The angel directed a curious expression to his friend.

Dean snorted out in mild disbelief at his friend's naïve reaction and squinted, "Come on Cass, she wanted you to kill me over Tessa and you saw how quick she bailed on you after Metatron's self-serving bull and you said no to her. If you ask me, there are a few screws loose with her."

Castiel held his tongue and solemnly looked at his friend, understanding how he would have such a reaction with her. He cared about Hannah, but he couldn't let himself be blind to her single focus with little concern about others.

Sam shook his head and sighed, "Cass, if he's on the up and up, this is a bad situation and not just because of Hannah. This girl's in trouble either way: the trial kills her or the reaper kills her after being cut loose. We ran into a situation like that years ago and once the reaper was released loose, he turned right on the woman that bound him and killed her."

Castiel nodded in agreement that the situation was precarious even without Hannah's involvement.

Dean brought up a concern, "Are we sure this story is even true? You just told us an angel has gone rogue to prove the reaper hasn't?"

Castiel shook his head and answered in a relieving tone, "No, Nathaniel is a good angel. He genuinely wants to free our sister, but—"

Dean glanced away and snorted a breath out before questioning, "He's making a deal with the devil—figuratively to do it?"

Sam brought up, "And you know that's what he really wants? That he's one of the good guys?"

The older Winchester brother sarcastically added, "Yeah, you told me Gadreel was alrigh—"

Castial quickly corrected with a surprisingly sharp tongue, "I never said that Gadreel was a good angel. He lied to you and said he was Ezekiel. _He_ was a good and honorable. I saw Nathaniel and know it's him. He joined me during my fight with Raphael."

Sam nodded along and thought he was asking a rhetorical questioned, "So he was part of your garrison?"

"No, he was one of the others that joined me. He stood out because he's a cupid and they almost as a whole remained neutral during the fight keeping their rounds."

Dean questioned, unsure if he had heard the angel correctly, "A cupid? Really?"

"Yes, he was quite capable the soldier. He became quite accomplished. You know that just because they are a lower order of angel, doesn't mean that they're weak."

The brothers shared nods, remembering how the first one they met was able to easily lift them and Castiel for bear-hugs as if they were dolls. Dean almost broke his hand in punching the nude angel.

"He joined my side and devoted to the cause. He was loyal to the mission, stop Michael and Lucifer from being release from the cage, but he didn't…"

"What?"

"He never had that… how would you say… devotion towards me as the others."

Dean softly laughed and shook his head, "You mean he didn't follow you like you were some cult leader?"

Castiel passed a disapproving glance to Dean, but couldn't argue with him.

Sam followed up, "So he had a mind of his own?"

"Yes."

The younger Winchester continued on that same line of thought, "Because he has a mind of his own, do you think he'll lead this demon to the portal?"

"No, I trust him to do the right thing."

"Yeah, and how many angels have you counted on to do the right thing?"

Castiel clenched his jaw tight.

Dean glanced away, seeing that he had gone too far with the comment.

The angel suggested in a gruff tone, "I'll talk to him again. He came to me in the first place because he wanted to find a non-violent solution and I'm sure we can figure it out together."

The older brother laughed as he relaxed back in his chair, "Easy, kill the demon then all you have to do is talk to Hannah. Hopefully you'll be able to have a civil conversation about all this and even if you can't, we won't have that demon being some wild card in the mix."

Castiel returned with a pensive expression, believing that would only escalate the delicate situation as it would violate Nathaniel's sense of honor.

Sam gave a half glance to his brother then offered a suggestion to the angel, "Hey, why don't we go with you? You'll talk to Hannah and we'll be able to talk to these hunters as hunters-to-hunters. We'll save the reaper and hunters and if necessary, one of us can babysit the demon so we won't ruffle Nathaniel's feathers in killing her."

The angel narrowed his gaze on Sam and slightly tilted his head to the side, questioning his statement.

The longer haired hunter tightened his smile and embarrassingly commented, "Sorry, I didn't mean that as a joke. I'm just saying we can work this out with everyone being able to walk away."

Castiel nodded, accepting the reasoning. He had seen too many angels die because of disagreements and he had no wish for any innocent people to die. "It's why I came to you because of the trials. I thought you should know and was hoping for your insight with these hunters."

Dean got up from his seat and stated in a falsely cheerful tone, "Fan-freakin-tastic, I know you're going to stick me with the demon babysitting. That's a great way to spend the rest of the night."

Sam nodded his head to the side and remarked with a half smile, "Hannah wouldn't necessarily like to see you."

The older brother shook his head again and headed in the direction of his room, but paused when he saw the other two remaining in their seats. "Well come on, if we're going to do this, let go ahead and get going."

Castiel and Sam passed each others brief looks then got up to prepare to head out.

* * *

Author's Note: So, we get some deep insight on Mandy, a little on Nathaniel and finally our favorite hunters are getting into the mix. Just hit the next button for the next chapter. OneHorseShay.


	8. Chapter 7

Okay, this is the second update, so if you haven't read the previous chapter, please click back one to make sure you're up to speed.

Rating: T Language, Crude Humor

* * *

Chapter 8

Out-of-the-Way Diner  
Somewhere in Kansas

Nathaniel paused in his eating and put on a vacant expression.

Mandy slightly squinted, curious as his sudden spacing out, and asked for her own concern, "What?"

The angel blinked and met the demon's eyes. "I'm getting a message from Castiel. He wants to meet and help us."

"It could be a trap," she quickly and purposefully stated the obvious.

"Perhaps, but I'm not going to turn down a talk from him. He can meet us here. We're not walking into anything." He remained silent then looked to the waitress and stated with a pleasant tone, "We're meeting some friends, but it might take them a little while."

The waitress smiled, but gently reminded him, "I just hope they get here before closing."

"If not, we won't keep you waiting," he reassured her with a charming smile.

Mandy leaned slightly forward over the table and whispered, "He's bringing friends?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't concern you?"

"No, I'll just call some friends of my own if necessary."

"You'll call some friends? Will those friends remember not to kill me?"

Nathaniel studied her justifiable concern expression and answered, "Yes. Angels are good at taking orders and they'll listen to my orders."

Mandy slightly nodded, still concerned, but since he thought he still needed her, she felt she would be alright for the time being. She took a sip from her drink and decided on focusing on finishing her meal.

* * *

About half an hour later, the diner door opened and Castiel was the first one inside, followed by Dean then Sam. Dean noticed the pair of police officers enjoying their late meal a few seats down, half grinning in disgust that they had to have that kind of luck if things turned sour.

Mandy looked over her shoulder when she heard the door opened and froze at the sight of seeing the Winchester brothers before getting out of her seat and taking a step back to stand beside Nathaniel still seated. She leaned slightly down then whispered, "You didn't say he was bringing the Winchesters."

He looked up at her in concern. "He didn't tell me, but it's okay."

She replied in a harsher whisper, "No it's not. They're the Winchesters."

Nathaniel smiled and motioned over for them to approach their booth. "Bro, over here."

Castiel and the brothers turned in the direction of the young man waving them over.

Nathaniel scooted over in his seat and stood up to meet them. "Hello Castiel. I see you brought company?"

The higher order angel smiled almost apologetically and answered, "Yes. I thought they could help with the situation."

The cupid expressed a reluctant look, but for the moment gave his brother the benefit-of-the-doubt.

Dean laughed while eyeing the shorter young man, "So you're Nathaniel?"

"And you're Dean Winchester?"

Dean smirked and sarcastically asked, "Yes I am. What, no hug?"

The cherub knotted his brow and questioned, genuinely surprised by the statement in Dean knowing how they traditionally shook hands. "Do you want me to hug you?"

Dean cut off the possibility when he realized that the cupid was considering it, "Absolutely not."

"Okay," Nathaniel slowly answered keeping his eyes on the hunter for several seconds before looking up at Sam and uttered with a mildly awed tone, "Wow, what did they feed you?"

Sam snorted out and half smirked, not expecting the joke from an angel.

"I guess you avoided all those GMOs…" He glanced to Dean to see the height difference then added, "…or you did take them."

The longer haired laughed while the younger brother pursed his lips and gave a glance away.

Nathaniel nodded his head towards Mandy and introduced her, "This is Mandy."

Mandy cautiously eyed each of them and answered, "Hello."

Dean put on his charming smile and answered with a hintly sarcastic manner, "Hi."

Sam was a little more polite, but still hesitant with all the memories of being fooled by Ruby, "Hello."

Nathaniel retook his seat, but scooted over enough for Mandy to take a seat. She hesitated to take a seat, but a gently grip around her wrist eased the anxiety enough to take the seat next to her.

The three new arrivals took the other side of the booth table though it was a little tight for the three with Dean seating at the end.

Dean charmingly smiled to the demon. She was a little young for him if she as a human, but he could acknowledge she was hot. "You look like you're about to jump out of your skin, though that wouldn't be a bad thing."

Mandy swallowed down at least a bit of her fear and answered, "You're Dean Winchester. We're told to stay clear of you and your brother. I don't want any trouble from either of you."

The older Winchester lazily replied, "Smart girl and if you're really smart, you won't complain when I say whatever deal you made with him, I don't care. You're not getting the hunters."

She didn't like being told that she was being cut out, but she liked to think she was smarter than the average demon and answered, "As long as I get to tell Crowley that you said that, fine."

The hunters and Seraph stared back at her in surprise that she would so readily agree with Dean.

Sam raised an eyebrow and questioned in a mildly sarcastic manner, "Just like that?"

Mandy shook her head. "I told you. We are not to mess with you. The king's orders."

Nathaniel challenged, "No, you don't get to nullify our deal."

Dean slightly squinted and questioned, "Excuse me?"

"No. I need her. She still needs to tell Crowley that Abigail had nothing to do with those other hunters violating his territory. She shouldn't be on a hit-list from the King of Hell because a hunter is making her do things."

Dean raised and reassured, "Look we'll get your sister back, deal with Crowley and not have to give them to him."

The cupid knotted his brow and slightly tilted his head to the side while answering, "I have no reason to trust such a thing from you. After what all my brothers and sisters have done to screw you over all these years, why would you want to do anything for us? You'd be kind of justified to tell us all to go to Hell." He glanced to Mandy and remarked, "Figuratively speaking."

The brothers where slightly stunned by the cupid's acknowledgement of how they were pretty much screwed over by angels over the years.

Castiel spoke up, "Then trust me. We will do everything we can to get her back and we'll deal with Crowley."

Nathaniel studied his brother then glanced to Mandy.

The demon looked back with a worried expression. She wasn't eager to team up with them for good reason, but she really didn't have any leverage left. She shrugged a shoulder to signal her willingness to go along with the plan.

The cherub passed a glance to the demon, checking to see if she was comfortable with the change in their agreement.

Mandy struggled with a smile and nodded her head in resigned acceptance.

Dean confidently smiled and dismissively voiced to Mandy, "So we don't need you?"

Nathaniel pointed out with a half smirk of his own, "But she needs us, so she's not going anywhere."

The hunter countered with what he thought was still a prudent precaution, "Or we could just kill her and save ourselves the trouble?"

Mandy flinched in believing he was about to do such a thing.

Nathaniel smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant, joyful one, but one that held a bit of menace. "You're not going to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because if you do that, I'll mark your heart and that of a dog and you can go screw each other until your dick falls off."

Dean's eyes nearly bulged out of his eyes then several moments later shouted in outrage, "Dude!"

The cops turned to look at them from the shout then turned back to their meal.

Dean gave them a friendly grin and a wave of his hand. "Just a joke that caught me off guard."

Apparently satisfied with the answer, the police turned back to their respective meals.

The hunter looked to the cherub with a furious expression, but Nathaniel answered in a deadpan manner, "What? You have your tricks, I have mine." He looked to Castiel and asked, not wanting to waste anymore time arguing with Dean, "So, you're going to talk to Hannah?"

"Yes, I'll talk to her and explain the situation. The last time we spoke, it was on very good terms."

"What else?"

"What?"

"What else are you planning? You wouldn't have brought them for a simple conversation with her and there is something heavy on their minds, especially the big one."

Dean glanced to his younger brother as Sam cleared his throat. "Sam?"

Sam bashfully grinned then answered, "Cass told us what was going on and we're just concerned about the hunter. Them killing the hellhound and rescuing the soul from Hell is connected and we're kind of experts on the matter."

Nathaniel curiously remarked, "Yeah, flipped the bird as you humans would say to Hell with the hound then saved a person out of there. I'm not sure how your expertise is of any further value in this situation… and you're not being completely honest with me, but we'll go with that for the time being."

Dean turned slightly in his seat and gave his brother a scrutinizing gaze.

Sam continued on, not eager to have the conversation Dean clearly wanted to have, "What they did were part of 'The Trials'."

Mandy slightly tilted her head to the side and asked, "Trials for what?"

Sam glanced at the demon, sharing Dean's doubts with her presence.

Mandy looked at them in disgust and asked, "Do I have to leave so the Super-Friends can have their secret meeting?"

Nathaniel gave a deferential nod to Mandy and answered, "It's okay. You're a part of this." He looked to Sam and finished, "Say what you're going to say or we can just go and deal with this on our own."

Dean finished with a disgusted breath, "The trials are to close the gates of Hell forever."

Mandy went wide eyed and muttered, "What?"

"Yeah you black-eyed demonic bitch. All the gates locked up and you and the rest of those sons-of-bitches are trapped forever."

A shiver went up her spine at imagining being trapped in such a place. As a demon, she had the power to create a pleasant enough place in damnation, but she enjoyed her freedom to walk the Earth.

Nathaniel instantly saw that Dean was telling the truth and looked just as horrified as he thought of a ramification as fast as a supercomputer working out all the ramifications that may have slipped their minds. He hastily pointed out, "We can't let that happen."

Sam continued, not giving Nathaniel a moment to voice his view, "You're right. The hunter going through the trials will kill him."

"As tragic as that would be, I was thinking of the more profound reason."

Dean sarcastically snapped lingering with anger, "Him being dead isn't profound?"

"Her actually, but not to the degree I am thinking about. The Gates of Heaven are closed to human souls and are trapped in the Veil. If the Gates of Hell were locked in the same way…"

He trailed off for the hunters to put the pieces together and their faces changed to look of astonishment as if that had never occurred to them if the gates were closed.

Dean whispered, "Damn."

The cherub remarked, "Yeah, the worst are left out just like the best. So how many trials are left?"

Sam answered, "If she can actually manage to get the soul to Heaven then there will be one more left."

Mandy curiously inquired with a hint of dread, "What's the last trial?"

The Winchesters and Castiel glanced to Mandy, causing the demon to dart her eyes back and forth between the hunters and asked, "What?"

Dean decided to field that question, "To cure a demon."

The demon knotted her brow. "Cure a demon? What's that supposed to mean?"

"A demon would have their humanity restored… they'd get their soul back."

Mandy looked at him as if he was crazy, but after several seconds of studying him realized that he was serious. She nervously swallowed, "You mean a demon would be back to who they were before they were damned?"

"Yeah."

The blue eyed demon glanced to the tabletop and whispered, "Is that possible? To be…" She licked her lips as she let her mind contemplate such a thing.

The hunters looked curiously and fairly shocked by her reaction and spared a glance to each other to make sure they were seeing such a thing. Crowley had been terrified of the prospect of become human again, but she looked pensive and contemplative, perhaps even hopeful that such a thing was possible.

Mandy took a breath and gathered her wits. She brushed some of her hair off her cheek and pointed out, "So we stop her from getting that soul back to Heaven and we can derail this thing?"

Sam cautiously eyed her, wondering what had just gone through her head, and pointed out, "Or we get her to give up the trials. If it really is an innocent person then he or she should get to go to Heaven then we would just stop her from performing the incantation. It's just an act without the spellwork to go with it."

Nathaniel nodded, seeing the hunter's point.

Sam passed glances among the group and suggested in a calm and collected manner, "Okay, Cass and I'll will go to the portal and let them know what is going on. Hopefully, we'll catch them when they arrive and I can explain what's going on and get her to stop. The soul gets to go up and we save her and then we can all walk away."

Nathaniel studied the three, trying to determine their sincerity. He could easily read the hunters, Sam entirely being sincere that he wanted to save the hunter that kidnapped Abigail while Dean wanted to stop the trials. He couldn't read his brother, so he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility of deceit and keeping the brothers out of his plan. He had done it before with the opening Purgatory.

"Okay, I'm going with you. I'm making sure that we get Abigail back, but I'm still not thrilled with that they're just going to get away with kidnapping her."

Castiel looked hesitant to that idea and voice his concern, "Hannah may not appreciate seeing you by your own point."

"I don't care how much she doesn't like me or the choices I've made, so she and the rest of them can kiss my feathery ass."

Sam looked stunned at the response while Dean whistled then questioned, "Whoa, what did she do to get on your bad side?"

The cupid looked to Dean and answered with a cold tone, "In her attempt to round up everyone to go back to Heaven, she tried to include us cupids. We made the obvious point that we're supposed to be stationed on Earth and to leave would be to interfere with Father's plan for us. I still have a mission and I will go back when I'm damn well good and ready."

Dean leaned forward and rested his elbows on the tabletop. He questioned in a hushed tone, recalling his first experience with a cupid, "Are you sure that's God's plan? Those orders came from Michael and after he was put in the cage, someone else was giving the orders. If you're not listening to anyone upstairs, how are you still doing your job? Do you really have a job?"

"It doesn't matter if no one's giving orders. We still have the same mandate: maintaining the bloodlines. We've had to keep track of them and take it over issuing orders."

"And which one of you is doing that? You? Are you in charge? Are you leading another faction? We all saw how that worked out last year."

Castiel darted his eyes between his friend and his brother, concerned that things could escalate between them.

Nathaniel narrowed his gaze on the older hunter brother, sensing that he was trying to lead him into a verbal trap. He cautiously answered, "The senior ones have come together to do the job. We're not a 'faction' that was fighting for control of Heaven. Some of us actually had to act like adults instead of spoiled little children tearing up the house when there wasn't anyone to supervise them."

"And the cupids did that? They're the mature ones?"

The cupid licked his lips as he smirked then answered in a patient yet slightly mocking tone, "Being a lower order of angel doesn't equate to being young or immature. I've been around since the dawn of time. I saw when hydrogen began to coalescing to ignite and give birth of the first stars." He motioned his head towards Castiel and remarked, "I'm actually older than him."

Dean blinked, surprised with the retort and passed a quick glance to Castiel.

The angel struggled with a smile and shrugged a shoulder.

Michael's vessel turned his attention back to Nathaniel and looked to him with a new sense of awe and wonder.

Mandy looked to Nathaniel with a little awe then interrupted, clearly concerned about her own safety, "Okay, now that you've established your pecking order, what about me?"

Castiel readily answered, "We can't take you with us. I can't let you know the location of the portal."

Dean happily suggested with a smartass expression on his face as he got comfortable in his seat, "I could stay with her. We can chill for a bit. We've already established that I don't think Hannah would like to see me either. You're going to have your hands full with cupid here."

Nathaniel was quick to point out, "Hannah's the trigger happy one. The whole point of calling him was to avoid such a thing. Seriously, is this the best material you have? You got to work on your 'smack'."

"My 'smack'?"

"I watch TV. I know how to use the internet, social media, so on and so on. My vessel is going to be a computer engineer and already holds a patent to the next generation of cameras. I particularly enjoy Netflix and Hulu. You humans are quite imaginative."

Dean moved his head back and looked a little flustered with the response. He wasn't expecting an angel so assimilated into human life.

Sam answered with a sideways glance, feeling a little awkward and surprised, "Mandy can stay with Dean and she'll be fine while we go talk with Hannah."

Nathaniel glanced to Mandy, checking one more time if she was okay with the plan.

The demon still looked hesitant at the plan, but bashfully relented, "Fine, as long as he doesn't try to kill me."

Dean wore a near devious smile and commented sarcastically, "I'll behavior, just so long as he behaves."

The cherub narrowed his gaze on Dean and tightened the muscles in his jaw for a moment before commented in a dismissive manner, "If that's some kind of cover to kill her anyway then say it was self-defense, you can forget it. We'll deal with this ourselves."

Nathaniel motioned for Mandy to scoot out of the booth, but Sam held up a hand and hurriedly spoke, "Dean's not going to do that. We're not just going to double cross you."

The cherub eyed the younger hunter for a few moments then questioned, "You'll just kill her when we're done with all of this?"

Sam looked uncomfortable, not wanting to admit that was a possibility that had been considered.

Nathaniel shook his head and spat out in disgust, "You will cut your nose off to spite your face won't you?" He shook his head and muttered in disbelief, "How in the world did you two beat Michael and Lucifer?"

Dean practically growled at the angel, "She's going to screw you over the first chance she gets."

"And you are too, so which one of you has the moral high ground again?"

The hunter was taken aback by the question and the angel pushed on before he could make any kind of retort, "Look, I was already going to give her everything she wanted before you butted in. Your plan actually incentives her to come up with some way to 'screw us over'. How was she going to do that before you came along? Killing me? She'll have angels hunting her down in vengeance and she doesn't strike me as being that stupid unlike you two."

Dean looked like he was about to verbally tear into the cupid, but Castiel cut him off in a gruff voice, "Enough.

We need to deal with this now before they complete another trial or someone else dies."

Nathaniel motioned for Mandy to slip out of the booth, so they could both get up. The handsome cupid bowed down and whispered, "Fine, but remember my warning Dean." He straightened his posture and looked to his fellow angel and stated, "I need to pay the waitress."

"I need to give her a tip too," Mandy hastily stated before falling in step behind him.

Sam tightly smiled and called out to them, "We'll meet you at Cass car."

Nathaniel nodded over his shoulder then turned back to the counter.

At the counter, Nathaniel pulled out his wallet to pull out a few bills to hand the waitress.

Mandy leaned over and whispered to her 'partner', "Are you sure about this?"

Nathaniel smiled to the waitress as he passed her the bills then uttered under his breath, "Nope, do you not want to stay with him?"

The demon hesitated. She didn't want to show fear, but she couldn't help with what she felt with the idea of staying with the infamous hunter. "I don't want to be cut out, but…"

"I gave him a warning."

"Will he listen to it though?"

Nathaniel accepted the change answered under his breath, "I guess it depends how much he'll care to hump a dog."

Mandy snorted a soft laugh, bowing her head slightly and letting her dark locks partly block the sides of her face.

The waitress smiled as she gave them change for their meal. "You two have a lovely evening."

The handsome vessel angel smiled his appreciation and answered, "We will. Thank you."

Mandy glanced over the glass case sitting on the countertop and asked with a motion of her finger, "Can I get some dessert to go?"

The waitress maintained her smile, believing the pair looked cute together, and answered, "Sure sweetie. What would you like?"

Dean called out behind them with raised a finger, "Can I get some pie to go?"

The angel and demon glanced over their respective shoulders to see the hunter's smartass smirk.

* * *

As soon as the younger Winchester brother and Castiel were out of the dinner, Sam turned and suggested in a hushed whisper, "This is may be our chance."

Castiel raised a reluctant eyebrow and questioned, "Sam?"

"You know who I'm talking about and do you think I like suggesting it? Dean isn't getting better and Charlie has dropped off the radar. He might be our last shot—our only shot at this point."

Castiel sighed and glanced to the ground. He was bailed out of not having to answer with Nathaniel exiting the dinner and asking, "We ready to go?"

* * *

Author's Note: Wow, talk about tension of the group. Let's hope no one randomly kills anyone because they get on one's nerves. Take care, OneHorseShay.


End file.
